Present Perfect vs. Simple Past: Are the solutions supplied by an English website correct?
I am a native English speaker who has just begun to tutor ESL students. I have found some exercise sheets on the internet and I disagree with some of the answers, I would appreciate some other opinions. The object of the exercises is to select which of the 2 verb tenses is correct.
- I ____ (drink) three cups of coffee this morning.
The answer given is "have drunk", but I believe it depends on when I am saying it. If it is already this afternoon, than "drank" is correct.
- Sorry, I ____ (miss) the bus, so I'm going to be late.
The answer given is "have missed", and this is fine, but I believe "missed" is also perfectly acceptable. Even though the consequences of the action are still palpable, the event itself is over.
To give an extreme example, "My great-great-grandfather blew up a mirror factory, so I still have 7736 years of bad luck coming". Although the consequences are still reverberating, it would be incorrect to use "has blown up".
- She ______ (play) hockey at school, but she ______ (not / like) it.
The answer given is "played / didn't like", which is fine. But wouldn't it also be grammatically acceptable to say "has played / hasn't liked"?
Furthermore, I feel it would also be fine to say "has played / didn't like". She has played several games, and may play more, so PP is fine for the first clause. Simple past for the second clause, because the games are over and she didn't enjoy it. Even if she plays more and enjoys future games, she still did not enjoy the first few games. If you claim that the "it" implies that there was only one game, I think that the "it" pronoun refers to the act of playing in games, not to the games themselves.
Link to questions
OK, in questions 19 and 20 the time expressions are different. Present Perfect is the "best" solution for 19, but Simple Past could also be used.
19) I have drunk three cups of coffee today.
For question 20 the Simple Past is the only appropriate form given the choice between Present Perfect and Simple Past.
20) I drank three cups of coffee yesterday.
I don't see a question with "this morning".
There are also two questions about missing the bus.
9) Sorry, I (miss) the bus - I'm going to be late.
10) I (miss) the bus and then I (miss) the aeroplane as well!
The hockey sentences are the following
7) I (play) Hockey since I was a child - I'm pretty good!
8) She (play) hockey at school but she didn't like it.
For No.7 the learner is expected to write "have played" and for No.8 "played". They are not wrong and the majority of native British English speakers would give those answers too. But the simple past, played, could also be used in No.7. I would not use PP in No.8 because the next clause is "didn't like" and that is in the simple past tense. It's a matter of simple homogeneity.
As I see it, the aim of the exercise is for learners to practice the PP and SP. It is a very basic English exercise, appropriate for learners at the elementary, and pre-intermediate levels. And the answers supplied by the website are appropriate, but there is nothing to prevent the OP from giving more detailed explanations and alternative examples to their class. In fact, that is what teachers are for!
Baby steps, baby steps.