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Timber One Way, Tools the Other is a free printable Grade 3 to Grade 5 social studies worksheet on why countries specialise and then trade, aligned to Common Core standard D2.Eco.4.3-5. 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 15 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.

Timber One Way, Tools the Other

D2.Eco.4.3-5

NameDate

Circle the best answer.

1.Why did rebuilding need specialists in short supply?
  • A.Bricklaying and building take years to learn and could not be improvised
  • B.Training was banned
  • C.Anybody can lay bricks
2.Why can a country import food and still be well fed?
  • A.It earns more from what it does best and buys food with the proceeds
  • B.Food is free abroad
  • C.Farms are illegal
3.Country A sends timber and takes machine tools. Why not make both?
  • A.Each produces one thing more cheaply and trades for the other
  • B.Machines cannot be made from timber
  • C.Trade is compulsory
4.What is the risk in Country A relying on timber exports?
  • A.Ships sink
  • B.Forests burn
  • C.If demand for timber falls it has one export and no other
5.Why do bricklayers not also design the buildings?
  • A.Design is forbidden
  • B.Bricklayers cannot draw
  • C.An architect's training does that faster and better, so both trade
6.What does the ban on reselling protect?
  • A.The ships
  • B.The price of labour
  • C.Each country's share of a scarce supply it specialised away from making
7.What does the agreement need before specialising is safe?
  • A.A shared language
  • B.A guarantee of supply, which is why prices are fixed for five years
  • C.A common currency
8.What happens to a specialised industry when its one buyer withdraws?
  • A.Nothing happens
  • B.It has nowhere else to sell and its workers have one skill
  • C.It changes overnight

LessonPrint · D2.Eco.4.3-5 · Set 15 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Timber One Way, Tools the Other

Set 15. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.Bricklaying and building take years to learn and could not be improvised
  2. 2.It earns more from what it does best and buys food with the proceeds
  3. 3.Each produces one thing more cheaply and trades for the other
  4. 4.If demand for timber falls it has one export and no other
  5. 5.An architect's training does that faster and better, so both trade
  6. 6.Each country's share of a scarce supply it specialised away from making
  7. 7.A guarantee of supply, which is why prices are fixed for five years
  8. 8.It has nowhere else to sell and its workers have one skill

More practice for D2.Eco.4.3-5

Explain why people and businesses each do one thing and then trade.

Teaching this next? Timber One Way, Tools the Other 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.4.3-5 of the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.