French language Q&A Forum

In the C1 writing challenge 'A bad matchmaker":
The answer to the question "who felt ready to date again" is:

"qui se sentait de nouveau prêt à rencontrer des gens"

but:

1. Why is "dater" not accepted for "to date" instead of only several variations on renconter or sortir? (Especially since dating implies more than just meeting.) Is it perhaps more a Quebecois thing than a French thjing?

2. Why is "encore" not accepted for "again" instead of only "de/à nouveau" 

This answer appears in the writing challemge: "Pre-date stress".

The question was "All afternoon, he'd rehearsed in his head"

Why would the answer not end in "la tête"? Or at least allow both la and sa?

Isn't this a similar case to "il s'est gratté la tête" (He scatched his head) where the body part belongs to the subject of the verb.

In the B2 writing challenge "Pre-date stress"

"he'd taken out the garbage"
is translated

"il avait sorti les poubelles"

but isn't this just as valid:

"il a sorti les déchets"

The first assumes that the person is taking a trash can out (to the street) but the second (describing the situation in my house) assumes the person is taking (bagged) garbage out to the trash can.

If so shouldn't the excercise be updated?

Would someone be able to explain the need for the ne in that sentence?  Or link to the lesson that explains it?  I'm stumped.

(it was translated as "Mathilde put the car away before it rained.")

The test question: My mates are not going to celebrate the new year.

HINT: Use Le Futur Proche

I wrote: Mes potes n'iront pas célébrer la nouvelle année.

Correct answer: Mes potes ne vont pas célébrer la nouvelle année.

If 'vont' is Le Présent and 'iront' is Le Futur, then why would my answer be incorrect?