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A1 French story: a friend brings soup and the wrong book

Edited by Chris Lee · Updated · About the library

Read an A1 supportive-visit story with eight glosses. Track the soup and two books, then identify the corrected request by colour and content.

In short

Louis asks for the blue short-story book, but Inès brings the red travel book. The soup is the requested food and stays with Louis. Inès takes the red book away and notes the corrected request for tomorrow: blue book, short stories.

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A bowl of vegetable soup, a plain red book and a plain blue book sit on a table beside a tote bag.
Compare the two book colours in this illustration. In the story, Inès brings only the red book; the blue book stays at her home. Illustration: Atelier

Follow the two kinds of objects separately. The soup is not part of the mistake; the book is. The colour and subject identify which book Louis wants. Read the final paragraph to see what stays at home and what leaves with Inès.

A1 · A friend’s small mix-up

La soupe et le livre rouge

Louis est fatigué aujourd’hui. Il reste chez lui et se repose1 sur le canapé. Son amie Inès lui envoie un message : « Je passe cet après-midi. Tu veux quelque chose ? » Louis répond : « Une petite soupe, merci. Et tu peux apporter le livre bleu, celui avec les histoires2 courtes ? » Inès a deux livres de Louis chez elle.

À quinze heures, Inès arrive avec un sac3. À l’intérieur, il y a un récipient de soupe aux légumes et un livre rouge. Louis la remercie pour la soupe, puis regarde la couverture4 du livre. « Celui-ci est le livre de voyages. Je voulais le bleu, avec les histoires. » Inès ouvre son sac : il n’y a pas d’autre livre.

« Pardon, ce n’est pas le bon livre ! » dit-elle en souriant. Louis répond : « Ce n’est pas grave. Tu peux garder le rouge et apporter le bleu demain5 ? » Inès accepte. Elle remet le livre rouge dans son sac. Louis pose la soupe sur la table. Elle est dans un récipient avec un couvercle6 vert.

Avant de partir, Inès écrit une note7 sur son téléphone : « Demain : livre bleu de Louis, histoires courtes. » Louis sourit. « Merci pour la visite. Je vais lire un peu plus tard. » Inès lui dit au revoir. La soupe reste chez Louis ; le livre rouge repart8 avec Inès.

Read it in English

Louis is tired today. He stays at home and rests on the sofa. His friend Inès sends him a message: “I’ll come by this afternoon. Would you like anything?” Louis replies, “A little soup, thank you. And can you bring the blue book, the one with the short stories?” Inès has two of Louis’s books at home.

At three, Inès arrives with a bag. Inside are a container of vegetable soup and a red book. Louis thanks her for the soup, then looks at the book’s cover. “This one is the travel book. I wanted the blue one, with the stories.” Inès opens her bag: there is no other book.

“Sorry, this is not the right book!” she says with a smile. Louis replies, “It doesn’t matter. Can you keep the red one and bring the blue one tomorrow?” Inès agrees. She puts the red book back into her bag. Louis puts the soup on the table. It is in a container with a green lid.

Before leaving, Inès writes a note on her phone: “Tomorrow: Louis’s blue book, short stories.” Louis smiles. “Thank you for the visit. I’m going to read a little later.” Inès says goodbye. The soup stays at Louis’s home; the red book leaves with Inès.

Question 1No account needed
Which book does Louis want?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

The blue short-story book. His request identifies the blue book with histoires courtes.

Question 2No account needed
What stays with Louis at the end?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

The soup. The final sentence explicitly leaves the soup at Louis’s home while the red book goes with Inès.

Question 3No account needed
What does Inès write in her note?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Bring Louis’s blue short-story book tomorrow. The phone note says Demain : livre bleu de Louis, histoires courtes.

Le livre bleu and le livre rouge identify the books. Le couvercle vert describes the soup container’s lid, so green does not introduce a third book. Keep the colour attached to its noun when comparing the request with the delivered objects.

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