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Reading a Grade 5 Fact Text is a free printable Grade 5 English worksheet on reading a whole argued text and answering across it, aligned to Common Core standard RI.5.10. It prints 2 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two pupils in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

Set 5 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

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Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.

Reading a Grade 5 Fact Text

RI.5.10

NameDate

Read the text, then answer the questions.

1.Read the text, then answer the questions.

The Mill: The Local Paper, June 1980

Whately's Mill closed on Friday with the loss of 214 jobs, the largest single closure in the town since the war. The mill had run since 1868. At its height it employed more than 600. Mr Whately declined to say when he had known the closure was certain. The Chamber of Commerce has called for a public inquiry; the union has called the closure "predictable for two years". The council says a retraining fund will open in September. Four other textile mills within twenty miles have closed since 1975. Nobody the paper spoke to expected the site to be used for textiles again.

  1. 1. Determine two main ideas of this report and explain how details support each.
  2. 2. Two organisations react. Identify which reason belongs to which.
  3. 3. What is this report's purpose, and how does it differ from the accounts?
  4. 4. When had the mill been running since?
2.Read the text, then answer the questions.

Can You Do Two Things at Once?

People say they multitask. Mostly they do not. The brain can run two tasks together only if at least one is automatic. Walking and talking works because walking is automatic for an adult. Reading and listening to speech does not, because both need the same language system. What feels like multitasking is usually rapid switching. Each switch costs time — a fraction of a second to disengage and re-engage — and the costs add up. In experiments, people doing two tasks alternately take substantially longer in total than doing them one after the other, and make more errors. They also do not notice. Switching feels efficient because you are busy the whole time. The practical conclusion is unpopular but consistent: for anything demanding, doing one thing at a time is faster.

  1. 1. Determine two main ideas of this text and explain how details support each.
  2. 2. The text makes two claims about multitasking. Identify the evidence for each.
  3. 3. When can the brain genuinely run two tasks together?
  4. 4. Why does reading while listening to speech not work?

LessonPrint · RI.5.10 · Set 5 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Reading a Grade 5 Fact Text

Set 5. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. First, this was the town's largest closure since the war — supported by the 214 jobs. Second, it was part of a regional decline — supported by the four other mills since 1975. 2. The Chamber of Commerce wants an inquiry; the union claims the closure was predictable for two years. 3. To record what happened and who said what — it reports the dispute rather than taking a side. 4. 1868.
  2. 2.1. First, real multitasking needs an automatic task — supported by walking and talking. Second, switching costs time and accuracy — supported by the experimental result. 2. That it requires an automatic task — walking and talking against reading and listening. That switching is costly — the timed experiments and error rates. 3. Only if at least one of them is automatic. 4. Both need the same language system.

More practice for RI.5.10

Read and understand harder Grade 4-5 information texts on your own.

Teaching this next? Reading Grade 5 Informational Texts is the 40-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.

All Grade 5 worksheets

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to RI.5.10 of the Common Core State Standards for English language arts.