Passive present perfect, past simple or present simple

[ElvisFannetjeh]

I need some help. I have to complete a text with these tenses but I am in doubt of some.

It (5)________(reported) that Africans were dying of Aids and there was no easy way to send them information about the disease.

Since then, the radios have been a great succes. Millions of them (8)_________(sell) worldwide, and Trevor (9)_______(give) many awards, including one from Nelson Mandela.

When do you use the past simple and when the present perfect? :s

[Esl_Expert]

Hello Elvis,

I would use the following:

5. was reported (or possibly the past perfect -- had been reported)
8. have been sold
9. has been given

Basically, the present perfect refers VERY generally to the simple fact that something has happened (when it happened is not at all important), OR it refers to recent events that have a direct impact on and/or events that continue up to the present.

In your first sentence, if you used the present perfect for 5 (has been reported), then I would also expect to see "are dying" and "is no easy way" in the rest of the sentence.
Because of the use of the past simple tense in the rest of the sentence, I would also use the past simple (was reported) for 5.

(Your first sentence is not the best practice sentence I've ever seen. They seem to be trying to mislead you since the present perfect is often used to report news. However, for me the present perfect would be completely out of place in that sentence. That sentence basically simply talks about past facts.)

_________________________________________
"Don't confuse fame with success. Madonna is one; Helen Keller is the other." ~ Erma Bombeck

[ElvisFannetjeh]

Thank you very much. It's like I thought actually :D
They say in the task to use present perfect, past simple or present simple (in the passive) so I also think it's best to use the past simple in sentence 5.

I'll use these examples to help me remeber the difference between past simple and present perfect:
Past simple: I was a teacher for 20 years. (I'm not a teacher anymore).
Present perfect: I have been a teacher for 20 years. (And I am still a teacher)

Thank you so much to help me.