Thinkabara

Borrow a Drill, Not a Book

5th Grade Common Core RI.5.1 News report and opinion article 378 words ⏱ 40 minESL B1

An article about a library that lends tools and machines instead of books, and an opinion article by a woman who uses the library.

Google Classroom

Name: ______________________   Date: ____________

Text 1: Borrow a Drill, Not a Book

Most people go to the library to borrow books. At the new "Library of Things" in our community center, you can borrow a drill, a ladder, a sewing machine or even a tent for a camping trip.

The idea is simple. Many people buy tools that they use only once or twice a year. The rest of the time, these tools sit in a cupboard and take up space. In a tool library, many people share the same tools, so each person spends less money, and fewer things end up in the garbage.

Libraries like this already exist in many cities around the world. Ours opened last month with about two hundred items. Most of them were given by people from the neighborhood.

Joining is easy. Members pay a small fee once a year and can borrow up to three items at a time for one week. Volunteers check every tool when it comes back and fix it if needed. On Friday mornings, they also teach short lessons, for example how to use a drill safely.

"We want people to do more things themselves and to meet their neighbors," says one of the volunteers.

Text 2: Why I Love My Tool Library

When I moved into my first apartment, I needed to hang shelves, fix a door and paint my bedroom. I didn't have a single tool, and buying everything would cost a lot. A friend told me about the Library of Things, and it changed my life.

In my opinion, every neighborhood should have a library like this. First, it saves money. In one month, I borrowed a drill, a ladder and a paint roller, and I paid almost nothing. Second, it is good for the environment. Why should every family on my street own a ladder that they use twice a year?

But the best thing for me was the people. One of the volunteers, a retired carpenter, showed me how to hang my shelves straight. Now I come to the Friday lessons, and I have even fixed a chair for my grandmother.

There is one problem: popular tools are not always available. I waited two weeks for the sewing machine. I hope the library will get more of them soon.

Still, I would tell everyone: before you buy, check if you can borrow.

📘 Word bank
borrow
to take something for a short time and give it back
drill
a tool for making holes
ladder
a set of steps for climbing up to high places
sewing machine
a machine for making and fixing clothes
cupboard
a piece of furniture with doors, for keeping things
fee
money you pay for a service
volunteers
people who work without being paid
carpenter
a person who makes things from wood
available
ready to be used or borrowed

✏️ Questions

  1. Text 1

    Key details

    What is different about the "Library of Things"?

  2. Key details

    According to paragraph 2, what is the problem with buying tools?

  3. Key details

    Give TWO advantages of sharing tools, according to paragraph 2.

  4. Key details

    Where did most of the items in the library come from?

  5. Key details

    How many items can a member borrow at one time?

  6. Key details

    What do the volunteers do when a tool comes back?

  7. Author’s purpose & structure

    What is the purpose of paragraph 4?

  8. Text 2

    Key details

    Give TWO jobs the writer needed to do in her new apartment.

  9. Fact, opinion & point of view

    Which sentence from Text B is an OPINION, not a fact?

  10. Reference words

    What does the word "they" in "a ladder that they use twice a year" (paragraph 2) refer to?

  11. Key details

    What was the best thing about the library for the writer?

  12. Inference

    "Popular tools are not always available" (paragraph 4) means that…

  13. Key details

    Copy the sentence that gives the writer's advice to readers.

  14. Comparing texts

    In Text A, a volunteer says the library wants people "to do more things themselves and to meet their neighbors". How does Text B show this?

Questions

  1. What is different about the "Library of Things"?

    1. It lends only new books.
    2. It sells tools at low prices.
    3. It lends tools and other things, not only books.
    4. It is open only to children.

  2. According to paragraph 2, what is the problem with buying tools?

    ______________________________________________________________

  3. Give TWO advantages of sharing tools, according to paragraph 2.

    ______________________________________________________________

  4. Where did most of the items in the library come from?

    1. People from the neighborhood gave them.
    2. The city bought them.
    3. Another library sent them.
    4. The volunteers made them.

  5. How many items can a member borrow at one time?

    1. One.
    2. Two.
    3. Two hundred.
    4. Up to three.

  6. What do the volunteers do when a tool comes back?

    ______________________________________________________________

  7. What is the purpose of paragraph 4?

    1. To explain how the library works for members.
    2. To tell the history of tool libraries.
    3. To describe the community center.
    4. To ask people to give tools.

  8. Give TWO jobs the writer needed to do in her new apartment.

    ______________________________________________________________

  9. Which sentence from Text B is an OPINION, not a fact?

    1. I borrowed a drill, a ladder and a paint roller.
    2. Every neighborhood should have a library like this.
    3. I waited two weeks for the sewing machine.
    4. I have even fixed a chair for my grandmother.

  10. What does the word "they" in "a ladder that they use twice a year" (paragraph 2) refer to?

    ______________________________________________________________

  11. What was the best thing about the library for the writer?

    1. The low prices.
    2. The new sewing machine.
    3. The people she met there.
    4. The big building.

  12. "Popular tools are not always available" (paragraph 4) means that…

    1. the library doesn't have popular tools.
    2. the popular tools are often broken.
    3. the popular tools are too expensive.
    4. other people often borrow them, so you may need to wait.

  13. Copy the sentence that gives the writer's advice to readers.

    ______________________________________________________________

  14. In Text A, a volunteer says the library wants people "to do more things themselves and to meet their neighbors". How does Text B show this?

    1. The writer bought new tools for her apartment.
    2. The writer learned from a volunteer and now fixes things herself.
    3. The writer stopped using the library.
    4. The writer gave her tools to the library.

Answer key

  1. c) It lends tools and other things, not only books.
  2. People use them only once or twice a year, and the rest of the time they sit in a cupboard and take up space.
  3. Each person spends less money; fewer things end up in the garbage.
  4. a) People from the neighborhood gave them.
  5. d) Up to three.
  6. They check it and fix it if needed.
  7. a) To explain how the library works for members.
  8. Any two of: hang shelves; fix a door; paint her bedroom.
  9. b) Every neighborhood should have a library like this.
  10. The families on her street.
  11. c) The people she met there.
  12. d) other people often borrow them, so you may need to wait.
  13. "Before you buy, check if you can borrow."
  14. b) The writer learned from a volunteer and now fixes things herself.

More 5th Grade reading passages

Fact textStories in the Dark: Why We Dream248 words · 10 questionsStoryThe Wrong Train258 words · 10 questionsHuman interest storyPlaying on Wheels226 words · 10 questionsOpinion articleFirst Aid Should Be Taught in Every School258 words · 10 questionsFact textNever Lost Again? How GPS Works236 words · 10 questionsFact textThe Clever Octopus235 words · 10 questions

All 5th Grade passages →