Simple present-stir; beat

[Narayanan Krishnaswamy]

Present Simple Test 3

But Sally changed the subject. 'This drink tastes delicious. How did you make it?' - 'I put a drop of ginger ale and a piece of lemon in the alcohol and then ......... thoroughly.'

(a) stir
(b) beat
(c) mash
(d) fork
But Sally changed the subject. 'This drink tastes delicious. How did you make it?' - 'I put a drop of ginger ale and a piece of lemon in the alcohol and then stir thoroughly.' - Correct

But Sally changed the subject. 'This drink tastes delicious. How did you make it?' - 'I put a drop of ginger ale and a piece of lemon in the alcohol and then beat thoroughly.' - Incorrect

I want to know whether the reply by Andrew on how the drink was made is in the present tense or past tense.
The question is in the past and so naturally the answer should also be in the past.
The past tense of ‘beat’ is beat’ ,the past of ‘stir’ is ‘stirred,’ and that of 'put'is 'put.'
So unless you argue that the question calls for an answer in the present simple, I don’t think that ‘stir’ is correct.
To call for an answer in the present simple it should be ‘How do you make it? And not 'How did you make it?’
Would you please explain the use of ‘stir’ instead of ‘beat?’

[Alan]

You raise a very interesting question. Let me give another example in my explanation: When I wrote this story (which appears under the heading esl lessons), I give examples of the different uses of the Present Simple. You will see in that sentence that I have switched from Past Tense (wrote) to Present Simple (give). And that is a similar construction in the passage you have quoted. The question is: How did you make it?, which is in the past but the answer is in the present:I put....and then stir ... This is called the historic or narrative present and in a way makes it more dramatic because we imagine the speaker (Andrew) is making this mixture before our eyes.

Hope this clarifies why I have used the present tense.
_________________
English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Indirect Speech

[Guest]

Thank you for the efforts and time taken to explain the change of tense.
I guessed that would have have been the plausible reason for the use of the simple present.
But how do you expect non-natives to understand the use of present in such constructions?
This is a test to give them confidence. But will this be answerd in the way you want them to. Will natives guess this much?
Instead of "'I put a drop of ginger ale and a piece of lemon in the alcohol and then ......... thoroughly," I would prefer,
"add a drop of ginger ale and a piece of lemon to alcohol and stir thorouhly," which would be , I think, a sort of impersonal active(?), by way of explaining the method.

[Narayanan Krishnaswamy]

The above posting was by me and this appears to have been made by a guest because I failed to log in. Excuse me.
Thank you,
narayanan.

[Alan]

I'm afraid you have missed the point about this particular test. What I expect (to use your word) is neither here nor there. The tests are offered and those trying the test can decide which is the correct answer. If they don't understand, they have the facility to ask for an explanation. After all this is what you did as you didn't understand. The whole point about this particular test is (and I refer you to the complete story from which the test is taken) that there are several examples of the use of the historic present in the sentences and it is in the last sentence ( the one that seems to be causing you problems) and also the first that I am testing the use of this particular use of the present. You ask and I quote: But how do you expect non-natives to understand the use of (the?) present in such constructions? The answer is that I have tried to show other examples of this particular use to point to the correct answer. If I have failed, so be it. You have offered an alternative. But what's the point of that? A million people could offer a million alternatives.
_________________
English as a Foreign Language
You can read my EFL story Everything in the Garden is lovely