Marie garde toujours une autre pile près de la lampe torche.

Garde is the third-person singular present tense of garder.

So:

• je garde = I keep
• tu gardes = you keep
• il / elle garde = he / she keeps

Because the subject is Marie, the sentence uses garde.

In this sentence, garder means to keep or to keep on hand, not to guard in the English security sense.

In simple tenses like the present, French adverbs such as toujours often come after the conjugated verb.

So:

• Marie garde toujours... = Marie always keeps...

This is the normal word order.
A learner might want to copy English and say something like Marie toujours garde..., but that is not the usual French order.

Une autre pile means another battery.

Breakdown:

• une = a / one
• autre = other / another
• pile = battery

Because pile is singular and feminine, the article is une.

So une autre pile literally means one other battery, which in natural English becomes another battery.

Autre normally goes before the noun in French.

So you say:

• une autre pile
• un autre livre
• une autre idée

Not une pile autre.

This is just the standard position of autre.

In French, pile usually refers to a single battery/cell, especially the kind you put into small devices.

For example:

• a battery for a flashlight
• a battery for a remote control

Batterie is often used for:

• a car battery
• a rechargeable battery pack
• a set of drums
• larger or more technical battery systems

So for a flashlight, pile is very natural.

No. Pile can also mean a pile or stack of things.

For example:

• une pile de livres = a stack of books

So the word has more than one meaning.
In une autre pile près de la lampe torche, the context clearly points to battery, not a stack.

Près de is the fixed expression for near.

So:

• près de = near / close to

After de, you put the noun phrase:

• près de la lampe torche = near the flashlight

This is normal French structure. You cannot just say près la lampe torche.

French contracts de + le to du, and de + les to des.

But:

• de + la stays de la
• de + l' stays de l'

So:

• près du livre = near the book
• près des fenêtres = near the windows
• près de la lampe torche = near the flashlight

Since lampe is feminine singular and uses la, the phrase stays de la.

La means the, so it refers to a specific flashlight.

That suggests Marie keeps the battery near the flashlight in question, probably one already known from the situation.

If you said près d'une lampe torche, that would mean near a flashlight, with a less specific meaning.

Yes, lampe torche is understood and used.

You may also hear lampe de poche, which is another very common way to say flashlight, especially in many learning materials.

So both can be encountered:

• lampe torche
• lampe de poche

The exact preference can vary by region and speaker.

Yes. Garder has several meanings, including:

• to keep
• to keep on hand
• to look after
• to guard

In this sentence, the context makes to keep the best meaning:

• Marie garde toujours une autre pile...
  = Marie always keeps another battery...

It does not mean that Marie is standing there guarding a battery.

You would make the noun phrase plural:

• Marie garde toujours d'autres piles près de la lampe torche.

That means Marie always keeps other batteries / additional batteries near the flashlight.

Notice the changes:

• une autre pile → d'autres piles

So:

• singular: une autre pile
• plural: d'autres piles

Here are some rough guides:

• Marie ≈ ma-REE
• garde ≈ gard
• toujours ≈ too-ZHOOR
• une autre pile ≈ ewn oh-truh peel
• près de ≈ preh duh
• la lampe torche ≈ la lahmp torsh

A few pronunciation notes:

• The final e in garde is not pronounced.
• toujours has the zh sound, like the s in measure.
• près de links smoothly in speech.
• torche ends with a sh sound.