Learn English – “Have waited” vs. “did wait” vs. “have been waiting”

Tricky question. I liked it.

It can happen bothways.

Opinion 1:

I consider that the pictures belong to some story/event. Storytelling is always in past because the event has happened. However, in some sentences, present tense may be used but that will be special cases. Overall, it'll be in past.

I quickly referred my daughter's text books and found that most of the questions are in past tense. Having said this, it'll be answered in past as well.

The pictures are just for the purpose of illustration and will make kids/the readers understand the scene/scenario and not the tense.

Opinion 2:

You may use the present tense if you are talking about that picture and asking it right now. The way 'find the differences between two pictures comes in newspapers and magazines'. If there's one single picture and it's not a story, you may put a present tense. That's because these questions are based on the picture and not the story. The picture is right in front of you and you are asking questions. The moment, the picture becomes a part of story, and is a kind of lesson you find in text book, it takes past tense to narrate, ask and answer.

Say they waited from 10:00 to 11:00 am. It is now 1:00. If you were saying they were angry at 11:00 while still waiting you could use either form but the second is better because it is more clear. If you were saying they were angry at noon--after the waiting but still in the past--then you would use the first form.