I am confused, while solving random questions to enhance my understanding of past simple and present perfect, I was stuck in the following question:
My sister .................... engineering for five years and became a clever engineer. [studied - has studied]
I've answered it "has studied" because it's something that happened in the past and has consequences in the present "became a clever engineer". I am not sure if that's correct or not.
The sentence says became, which is not the present (although she may still be an engineer).
The perfect tense would be more appropriate if the studies were recent.
My sister has studied engineering for five years and is now fully qualified.
The term "has" connotes past modes of being. John has worked as a waiter, a mechanic, and a circus clown. Leaving out "has" instead connotes an action - which, in your example, would be more naturally depict the flow of time. I bought the ingredients and read the cookbooks, so now I'm ready to make dinner.
