- According to the schedule, which meal on the trip is NOT included in the 185 € cost and must be paid for separately by each student?
Answer: The Saturday dinner, because the schedule marks the Saturday evening as 'soirée libre' and no dinner is listed as included for that meal.
When reading a French travel itinerary, your job is to cross-reference two things: what the schedule describes as happening and what the "inclus" (included) list confirms is paid for. These can sometimes look different, so you need to check both.
The passage explicitly lists three included meals: "dîner vendredi, déjeuner samedi, déjeuner dimanche." Notice what's missing — there is no dinner listed for Saturday. When you look at the Saturday schedule, the evening is simply called "soirée libre" (free evening), and no dinner appears anywhere in the inclus list. That means students must cover Saturday dinner on their own, which is exactly why the programme recommends bringing 30–50 € in pocket money. D is correct.
Choice A is the most tempting trap. "Dîner en autonomie" sounds like students pay for themselves — and "autonomie" does mean they choose their own restaurant — but the passage immediately clarifies it is "inclus dans le forfait." The 185 € covers it. A misreads the word "autonomie" as meaning "unpaid" when it actually means "self-directed."
Choice B is simply false. The Saturday lunch is described as a "déjeuner en groupe" and is explicitly named in the included meals list — it is part of the 185 € package.
Choice C invents information. The passage never mentions any additional fee for dining at Versailles; Sunday lunch is clearly listed as "déjeuner inclus sur place."
Study tip: On reading comprehension questions like this, always locate the official summary list (here, "Repas inclus") and treat it as your answer key — don't rely solely on how individual events are described in the schedule.
- A customer orders the formule déjeuner and chooses the salade niçoise, the steak frites, and a jus d'orange. Compared to ordering each item individually, how much does the customer save?
Answer: The customer saves 5 €, because the individual total is 23 € and the formule costs 18 €.
When a French menu offers a formule (set meal deal), your job is to compare the bundled price against the sum of individual item prices — a practical reading comprehension and arithmetic task combined.
Here, the customer selects three items: the salade niçoise (6 €), the steak frites (14 €), and a jus d'orange (3 €). Adding these individually gives:
6+14+3=23 €
The formule déjeuner costs 18 €, so the savings are:
23−18=5 €
That confirms B as the correct answer — the customer saves exactly 5 €.
Looking at why the other choices miss the mark: A is wrong because it inflates the individual total to 25 €, which would only be possible if you mistakenly added a higher-priced item — perhaps confusing the soupe à l'oignon price with the salade niçoise, or miscalculating entirely. C underestimates the individual total at 21 €, likely the result of forgetting to include one item (for instance, omitting the jus d'orange). D tries to trick you into thinking the steak frites is excluded from the formule, but the menu clearly states the formule includes un plat principal — any main dish — making the steak frites perfectly valid.
A good strategy here: always re-read the formule conditions carefully before calculating. French menus often define "entrée" as a starter (not the American meaning of "main course"), and missing that distinction — or misreading which categories are included — is the most common trap on menu-reading questions. - Marie wants to take a yoga class on Wednesday. What is the latest time she can register for that class?
Answer: She must register by 11h30 at the latest, because registrations close 30 minutes before the 12h00 start time.
When reading a scheduling passage in French, your job is to combine multiple pieces of information — in this case, the class time and a registration rule — rather than relying on just one detail.
The yoga class on Wednesday runs from 12h00 – 13h00, which you find under "Cours de yoga." Then, the passage states clearly: "Les inscriptions ferment 30 minutes avant le début du cours" — registrations close 30 minutes before the start of the class. Subtracting 30 minutes from 12h00 gives you 11h30, making A the correct answer. Marie must register by 11h30 at the latest.
Choice B is a tempting trap — 12h00 is indeed an important time, but it's when the class begins, not the registration deadline. Reading carefully, you'll see these are two different things. Choice C introduces a "one-hour notice" rule that simply does not exist anywhere in the passage — never add information that isn't there. Choice D misreads the direction of the time rule entirely, placing the deadline after the class starts (12h30), which would make registration pointless.
A useful strategy for French reading comprehension questions like this: always locate every relevant sentence, not just the most obvious one. Here, students who only read the class schedule miss the registration rule buried at the bottom of the passage. Train yourself to read the full passage before answering, and watch for sentences that modify or add conditions to the schedule information — they almost always appear in exam questions.
- Paul registers for the bread-making workshop scheduled for the following Saturday and pays the required deposit. He cancels his registration on the Thursday of the same week — 2 days before the workshop. How much money has Paul lost (i.e., will not be refunded)?
Answer: Paul loses 30 €, because the deposit is 50 % of the 60 € workshop fee, and cancellations fewer than 7 days before the workshop receive no refund.
Questions like this test your ability to extract and apply two separate pieces of information from a policy-style passage: a financial term (the deposit amount) and a conditional rule (the refund policy). The key is to identify exactly what Paul paid and exactly what the cancellation rules say.
Paul registered for the Atelier pain artisanal at 60 €. The passage states that a 50 % deposit is required at registration, so Paul paid 60×0.50=30 € upfront. He then cancelled on Thursday, only 2 days before the Saturday workshop. The cancellation policy is explicit: refunds are only granted when cancellation occurs 7 days or more before the course. Since 2 days < 7 days, Paul receives no refund at all — meaning he loses the 30 € deposit he already paid. That makes A correct.
B is wrong because Paul has not yet paid the balance (the remaining 30 €). The policy penalizes him by keeping what he already paid — it does not charge him for money he never handed over. He loses 30 €, not 60 €.
C is wrong because it misreads the refund condition. Cancelling before the workshop is not sufficient on its own; you must cancel at least 7 days in advance. Paul cancelled only 2 days before, so no refund applies.
D is wrong because the passage contains no "partial refund" tier for cancellations between 3 and 7 days — that detail is entirely invented.
Study tip: When a passage contains policy rules, underline every number and every conditional word (si, moins de, ou plus). Distractors on these questions often invent extra policy details or misapply the numbers already given. - Luc arrives at the boulangerie at 11h45 and orders a pain au chocolat, a quiche du jour, and a glass of water. What will the server most likely tell him, and what will his bill be if the order is fully fulfilled?
Answer: The server will refuse the pain au chocolat because it is a breakfast item, and if he orders only the quiche and water his bill will be 6,50 €.
When reading a menu or any informational French text, always pay close attention to the fine print — the remarque (note) at the bottom is just as important as the prices themselves. This question tests both your reading comprehension and your ability to apply a stated rule to a specific scenario.
The menu clearly states: "aucun article du petit-déjeuner n'est servi pendant les heures du déjeuner" — meaning no breakfast item is served during lunch hours. Since Luc arrives at 11h45, he is squarely in the lunch window (11h30–14h30). The pain au chocolat (1,80 €) belongs to the petit-déjeuner section, so the server will refuse it. Luc can still order the quiche du jour (5,00 €) and water (1,50 €), giving a total of 5,00+1,50=6,50 €. That makes B the correct answer.
A is tempting because all three items do appear on the menu, but it ignores the explicit rule restricting breakfast items during lunch. Just because something is listed doesn't mean it's always available. C invents a rule about "all baked goods being available after 11h30" — nothing in the passage supports this; the lunch menu contains no baked goods at all. D fabricates a restriction about hot items before noon, which is never mentioned anywhere in the passage, and incorrectly assumes the quiche is unavailable while the pain au chocolat is not.
Your strategy: always read every line of a French menu or document passage, especially any remarque or note — exam questions are frequently designed around those easy-to-overlook details. - Sophie wants to enroll in the intermediate (B1) course for one trimester. What is the total amount she should expect to pay, including all mandatory costs mentioned in the flyer?
Answer: Sophie should pay 150 € in total, because the B1 course meets twice a week and materials are included at that level.
When reading a French flyer or announcement, pay close attention to all the pricing conditions and any notes about included materials — these details are often tested together to see if you can synthesize multiple pieces of information at once.
For Sophie's situation, the flyer states two tuition rates: 150 € per trimester for 2 sessions per week, and 90 € for 1 session per week. The B1 intermediate course meets on Monday and Wednesday — that is two sessions per week, so the applicable rate is 150 €. Crucially, the flyer also explicitly states that materials are included for A1 and B1 levels, meaning Sophie owes nothing extra for course materials. Her total is simply 150 €, making A the correct answer.
Choice B is tempting because it adds the 25 € textbook fee, but that fee applies only to the B2 level ("manuel obligatoire" is listed exclusively under niveau B2). Sophie, as a B1 student, has her materials covered. Choice C applies the wrong tuition rate — 90 € is for students attending only one session per week, but since the B1 course runs twice a week (lundi et mercredi), the 150 € rate is the correct one. Choice D makes two errors simultaneously: it uses the wrong rate (90 €) and incorrectly adds the B2-only textbook fee.
A useful strategy here: when a question asks for a total cost, make a quick checklist — tuition rate (based on sessions per week) + any level-specific material fees. Always re-read which fees apply to which level before adding anything up.
- Thomas borrowed 3 books on a Monday. He returns them 4 weeks later (28 days after borrowing). What is the total fine he must pay?
Answer: Thomas owes 4,20 €, because each of the 3 books is 7 days late at 0,20 € per book per day: 3 × 7 × 0,20 €.
When a fine applies per book per day, you must multiply all three values together: number of books × days overdue × daily rate per book. This question tests whether you apply the fine formula correctly rather than cutting corners with partial multiplication.
Here, Thomas borrowed 3 books for 3 weeks (21 days). He returns them after 28 days, making each book 7 days overdue. The library charges 0,20 € per book per day, so the calculation is:
3×7×0,20€=4,20€
That confirms C is correct.
A is wrong because it only counts one book as overdue instead of all three. All three books were returned late — the rule doesn't exempt any of them.
B is internally contradictory and ultimately misleading. It correctly states the formula should involve all books, but then shows the math for only one book (7 × 0,20 € = 1,40 €) and invents a fictional "rounding policy" to reach 3,00 €. No such policy exists in the règlement.
D divides the overdue days among the books as if the fine were a shared pool — but that's not how per-unit fines work. Each book independently accumulates 7 days of fines; you don't split the days across books.
Study tip: Whenever you see par livre par jour (per book per day) in a French administrative text, treat each item separately. Write out the three-part multiplication — books × days × rate — before doing any arithmetic to avoid the trap of forgetting one of the multipliers.
