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What It Gains, What It Costs is a free printable Grade 3 to Grade 5 social studies worksheet on comparing the benefits and costs of a choice, aligned to Common Core standard D2.Eco.1.3-5. It prints 8 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 16 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.

What It Gains, What It Costs

D2.Eco.1.3-5

NameDate

Circle the best answer.

1.The canal company cuts its charges. What is the benefit to the company?
  • A.Boats get bigger
  • B.Tolls rise
  • C.It keeps some custom that would have gone to the railway
2.The county builds a school in a village. What is the cost?
  • A.The rates every household must pay towards it
  • B.Children get older
  • C.The village grows
3.A traveller pays 6 pence for third class. What is the cost?
  • A.He must walk
  • B.He arrives later
  • C.He travels open to the weather
4.A farmer sends milk by train instead of by cart. What is the benefit?
  • A.The horse eats less hay
  • B.The cart lasts longer
  • C.The milk reaches the town fresh in one hour
5.A boatman retrains as a railway porter. What is the cost?
  • A.The weeks he spends earning nothing while he learns
  • B.The railway is loud
  • C.Porters wear uniforms
6.The county builds a school in a village. What is the benefit?
  • A.Children no longer walk four miles to lessons
  • B.Roads improve
  • C.Rates fall
7.A boatman stays on the canal after 1846. What is the cost?
  • A.The canal freezes
  • B.He must learn to swim
  • C.He earns less as cargo moves to the railway
8.The canal company cuts its charges. What is the cost to the company?
  • A.It earns less on every ton it carries
  • B.The canal dries up
  • C.Barges get slower

LessonPrint · D2.Eco.1.3-5 · Set 16 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — What It Gains, What It Costs

Set 16. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.It keeps some custom that would have gone to the railway
  2. 2.The rates every household must pay towards it
  3. 3.He travels open to the weather
  4. 4.The milk reaches the town fresh in one hour
  5. 5.The weeks he spends earning nothing while he learns
  6. 6.Children no longer walk four miles to lessons
  7. 7.He earns less as cargo moves to the railway
  8. 8.It earns less on every ton it carries

More practice for D2.Eco.1.3-5

Weigh up what a choice gains against what it costs.

Teaching this next? Gains on One Side, Costs on the Other is the 45-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.

All Grade 3 to Grade 5 worksheets

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to D2.Eco.1.3-5 of the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.