needed or need

[diamondcutter]

Mike: Hi, Judy.
Judy: Hi, Mike.
Mike: You look busy. What are you doing?
Judy: I'm making a plan for this month’s activities for our club. Do you have any suggestions?
Mike: What about going to the park? We can pick up the rubbish and clean up the dustbins in the park.
Judy: We did it two months ago. Let's think of something new. Maybe we should start from the things we experience in our daily life.
Mike: In fact, I met a problem while I was cleaning my room this morning.
Judy: What was the problem? Tell me about it.
Mike: I found a lot of old toys I no longer needed. And it's a waste to throw them away.
Judy: That's true. We can think of a way to deal with these things.
Mike: What about selling them? We can hold a sale on the playground of our school. Everyone can bring the things they don't need and sell them to others.
Judy: Good idea! I think I know what to do. Thank you. ​

Mike: It's my pleasure.

The dialogue above is from a test paper. Students have to complete it with proper sentences and the sentences on the underlines are the answer keys.
I have a question about this sentence:​

I found a lot of old toys I no longer needed.
I wonder whether “needed” should be changed to “need” because we can see that Mike still doesn’t need the old toys from the context.

 

[5jj]

Need is more natural than needed, though the verb itself is less likely that play with, in my opinion.

The dialogue itself is not very natural. There are several small points that make me think it was not written by a native speaker.

 

[diamondcutter]

Thanks, 5jj.
I agree with you. It was probably written by a Chinese teacher.
I have two more questions.
1. Maybe we should start from the things we experience in our daily life. In this sentence, I think it's better to replace the word "experience" with "do".
2. What was the problem? For this sentence, is "What is the problem?" also OK?​

 

[probus]

1. Why do you think "experience" is worse than "do"? Their meanings are quite different. One is passive, the other active.

2. Six of one, half a dozen of the other.

 

[diamondcutter]

Thanks, Probus.

1. It just seemed odd to me. I know now it's correct.

2. Do you mean both "what was the problem" and "what is the problem" are equally correct in that context?

 

[tedmc]

Both was and is can be used. Using was does not mean it is no longer true.

 

[emsr2d2]

Thanks, Probus.

1. It just seemed odd to me. I now know now it's correct.

2. Do you mean both "What was the problem?" and "What is the problem?" are equally correct in that context?

Note my corrections above. Remember to include correct capitalisation and punctuation inside quotation marks.

 

[diamondcutter]

Dear native speakers, do you agree with Probus and Tedmc about my second question in #3?

 

[5jj]

Dear native speakers, do you agree with Probus and Tedmc about my second question in #3?

There is no need to post a question like this. If native speakers disagree, they will post their comments when they have free time.

Incidentally, I notice that you reported post #5 earlier today because it had received no response. Please don't do that. Click on Report only if you wish to alert the mods to spam or offensive posts.

 

[Tdol]

2. What was the problem? For this sentence, is "What is the problem?" also OK?​

I wouldn't use it- the problem occurred during the room cleaning, which is finished.