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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 2 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 traveller pays 2 shillings for first class. What is the benefit?
  • A.He pays no fare
  • B.He is not open to the weather on the journey
  • C.He arrives sooner
2.The canal company cuts its charges. What is the benefit to the company?
  • A.It keeps some custom that would have gone to the railway
  • B.Tolls rise
  • C.Boats get bigger
3.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
4.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
5.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
6.The canal company cuts its charges. What is the cost to the company?
  • A.The canal dries up
  • B.It earns less on every ton it carries
  • C.Barges get slower
7.A traveller pays 6 pence for third class. What is the cost?
  • A.He travels open to the weather
  • B.He must walk
  • C.He arrives later
8.A farmer sends milk by train instead of by cart. What is the cost?
  • A.The fare he pays the railway company every day
  • B.The cart is stolen
  • C.The milk goes sour

LessonPrint · D2.Eco.1.3-5 · Set 2 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — What It Gains, What It Costs

Set 2. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.He is not open to the weather on the journey
  2. 2.It keeps some custom that would have gone to the railway
  3. 3.He earns less as cargo moves to the railway
  4. 4.The weeks he spends earning nothing while he learns
  5. 5.The rates every household must pay towards it
  6. 6.It earns less on every ton it carries
  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.