Costs a Government Chooses is a free printable Grade 3 to Grade 5 social studies worksheet on comparing the benefits and costs of a public 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 24 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

One paper per pupil

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

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

Costs a Government Chooses

D2.Eco.1.3-5

NameDate

Circle the best answer.

1.A newspaper prints letters attacking the programme. Benefit to readers?

A.Letters are free
B.They learn what people outside the official figures are experiencing
C.The paper is longer

2.A minister publishes figures that show a shortfall. Cost?

A.Figures take long to add
B.Radio time is expensive
C.The failure is on the record for opponents to use

3.A country signs a five-year fixed-price supply deal. Cost?

A.If prices fall it is locked into paying more than the market
B.It loses its ports
C.Timber gets heavier

4.A council builds upward on cleared land. Benefit?

A.Bricks are cheaper
B.More families housed from the same scarce sites
C.Lists get shorter by themselves

5.The government builds through councils rather than firms. Cost?

A.It loses whatever speed competing firms might have brought
B.It loses the timber
C.It loses the land

6.The government builds through councils rather than firms. Benefit?

A.Materials go where destruction was worst rather than where profit is
B.Councils build faster
C.Bricks cost less

7.A country signs a five-year fixed-price supply deal. Benefit?

A.It gains territory
B.It gains a fleet
C.It knows the cost of timber for five years

8.A family waits seven years for a council home. What is the cost to them?

A.The rent they will pay
B.Seven years living in whatever they can get instead
C.The size of the home

LessonPrint · D2.Eco.1.3-5 · Set 24 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Costs a Government Chooses

Set 24. Prints on its own sheet.

1.They learn what people outside the official figures are experiencing
2.The failure is on the record for opponents to use
3.If prices fall it is locked into paying more than the market
4.More families housed from the same scarce sites
5.It loses whatever speed competing firms might have brought
6.Materials go where destruction was worst rather than where profit is
7.It knows the cost of timber for five years
8.Seven years living in whatever they can get instead

More practice for D2.Eco.1.3-5

Weigh up what a choice gains against what it costs.

Teaching this next? Costs a Government Chooses is the 55-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.