Dossier d'échange : places, pièces et budget
You are helping your teacher process replies for a school exchange with a lycée in Bordeaux. The partner school has sent this email: « Madame, Monsieur, dans le cadre de notre échange, nous accueillerons vos élèves du 12 au 19 octobre. Le tarif de 180 € par élève comprend l'hébergement en famille d'accueil, les petits-déjeuners et le transport scolaire. Il ne comprend ni le voyage aller-retour, à réserver avant le 30 septembre, ni les repas du midi, pris à la cantine (4,50 € par repas). Les élèves doivent remettre une autorisation parentale signée et une photocopie de leur passeport au plus tard le 20 septembre. Le nombre de places est limité à 18 ; les dossiers incomplets ne seront pas examinés. Une réunion d'information en français aura lieu le 5 septembre à 18 h dans le hall. » Your class has 22 students. By 18 September, 20 have handed in a parental authorisation, but 3 of those 20 have not supplied a passport copy. On 19 September, a student who has submitted nothing asks whether it is still worth applying.
1. Combien de dossiers sont réellement complets, et que faut-il répondre à l'élève du 19 septembre ?
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Twenty authorisations minus three missing passport copies gives 17 complete dossiers, not 20. Since the cap is 18, there is exactly one place left. The three incomplete files are not merely lower priority: the text says « les dossiers incomplets ne seront pas examinés », so they currently count for nothing. The late student can still be considered, but only if the file is complete by 20 September, i.e. within one day. The answer should therefore be practical, not a simple yes or no: bring the signed authorisation and the passport photocopy immediately, because a complete file submitted on time has a real chance of the last place, whereas an incomplete file has none. The reasoning depends on reading the deadline and the completeness rule together, not on counting names alone.
2. Un élève qui participe doit-il prévoir exactement 180 € ? Justifiez à partir du texte.
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No. The 180 € covers accommodation, breakfasts and school transport only. Two items are explicitly excluded: the return journey, which must be booked before 30 September, and midday meals at 4,50 € each. So the family budget is 180 € plus the travel cost plus 4,50 € per lunch. The text does not state how many lunches, so a careful answer says « 4,50 € par repas » rather than inventing a total. A weaker answer would see the figure 180 € and treat it as all-inclusive. The exam-tested judgement is to distinguish compris from non compris and to notice that a price list can contain several separate figures. If asked to estimate, the correct method is to list known costs, mark the unknown travel cost as unknown, and avoid presenting an invented total as fact.
3. Reformulez en français, en une phrase destinée à un élève, la règle sur les dossiers incomplets.
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Model: « Attention : si ton dossier n'est pas complet avant le 20 septembre, avec l'autorisation signée et la photocopie du passeport, il ne sera pas examiné. » The reformulation changes register from administrative to peer-to-peer, so tu and « ton dossier » are appropriate, while the meaning must remain exact: both documents, deadline, consequence. Do not soften « ne sera pas examiné » into « risque de ne pas être accepté »; that changes a rule into a probability. Do not add « il faut absolument » unless you want to emphasise urgency, because the original is neutral but firm. The skill tested is controlled paraphrase: keeping the condition, the deadline and the sanction while changing the addressee and tone.