The Overdue Library Book: Reading Between the Lines
A B1 candidate reads a short notice from a Sofia library: "Читателите, които не върнат книгите си до 30 септември, ще заплатят такса от 2 лева на книга за всеки просрочен месец. Забележка: учениците от 8–12 клас са освободени от такса, ако представят ученическа карта." The candidate must answer three comprehension questions in French. On question 2 ("Combien paie un élève de 10e classe qui rend trois livres en retard de deux mois?") the candidate writes "6 leva" and explains: "2 leva × 3 livres = 6 leva." On question 3 ("Que doit faire un élève pour éviter la taxe?") the candidate writes "Il doit rendre les livres avant le 30 septembre" and stops there.
1. Is the candidate's answer to question 2 correct? What reading skill did the candidate fail to apply?
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The answer is incorrect as written. The candidate applied the general rule (2 leva per book per overdue month × 3 books × 2 months = 12 leva) correctly up to a point, but actually made an arithmetic slip too: 2 × 3 × 2 = 12, not 6. More importantly, the candidate ignored the exception clause ("учениците от 8–12 клас са освободени от такса, ако представят ученическа карта"). A 10th-grade pupil who shows a student card pays 0 leva. The skill missed is integrating a general rule with a specific exception - a classic B1 reading task where the answer is not in one sentence but requires combining two parts of the text. A strong answer would state: "Il ne paie rien s'il présente sa carte d'élève, car les élèves de 8e à 12e sont exemptés." Note also that the exemption is conditional on presenting the card; without it, the fee applies.
2. Evaluate the answer to question 3. What is missing, and how would you score it against a B1 rubric?
Read the worked answer
The answer captures only one of two required conditions. The notice says pupils are exempt if they present a student card - returning books on time is a separate obligation, not the exemption condition. A complete answer must mention both: (a) returning books by 30 September, and (b) presenting the student card for 8th–12th graders. On a typical B1 reading rubric (content accuracy / completeness / language), this answer would earn partial credit: content 1/2 (misses the card condition), language 2/2 (grammatically sound French). The examiner's judgement call is whether to accept "rendre les livres avant le 30 septembre" as a valid partial answer - yes, but not full marks. The teaching point: candidates must scan for conditional markers ("ако", "si", "provided that") and treat them as answer-bearing, not as decoration.