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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 17 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.A boatman stays on the canal after 1846. What is the cost?
  • A.He earns less as cargo moves to the railway
  • B.The canal freezes
  • C.He must learn to swim
2.A boatman retrains as a railway porter. What is the cost?
  • A.Porters wear uniforms
  • B.The railway is loud
  • C.The weeks he spends earning nothing while he learns
3.A traveller pays 2 shillings for first class. What is the benefit?
  • A.He arrives sooner
  • B.He pays no fare
  • C.He is not open to the weather on the journey
4.A farmer sends milk by train instead of by cart. What is the benefit?
  • A.The milk reaches the town fresh in one hour
  • B.The horse eats less hay
  • C.The cart lasts longer
5.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
6.The county builds a school in a village. What is the benefit?
  • A.Rates fall
  • B.Children no longer walk four miles to lessons
  • C.Roads improve
7.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
8.A farmer sends milk by train instead of by cart. What is the cost?
  • A.The milk goes sour
  • B.The cart is stolen
  • C.The fare he pays the railway company every day

LessonPrint · D2.Eco.1.3-5 · Set 17 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — What It Gains, What It Costs

Set 17. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.He earns less as cargo moves to the railway
  2. 2.The weeks he spends earning nothing while he learns
  3. 3.He is not open to the weather on the journey
  4. 4.The milk reaches the town fresh in one hour
  5. 5.It keeps some custom that would have gone to the railway
  6. 6.Children no longer walk four miles to lessons
  7. 7.He travels open to the weather
  8. 8.The fare he pays the railway company every day

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.