[Grammar] has caused/caused the audience to sit up

[Oceanlike]

I don’t know what is the difference between these two sentences.

1) Present perfect: It is the speaker’s voice, not his ideas, that has caused the audience to sit up and listen.

2) Simple past: It is the speaker’s voice, not his ideas, that caused the audience to sit up and listen.

This is a grammar test that I did. The correct answer is ‘has caused’. Why is the second sentence incorrect?

Thank you for teaching me :-D

 

[MikeNewYork]

I don't consider it incorrect. There are many contexts in which the present perfect and simple past are correct.

 

[Rover_KE]

The present tense 'It is' makes the past tense 'caused' wrong. 'It was...that caused' would be correct.

In 1), the present perfect indicates that the speaker's voice has had an effect up to the present time.