What tenses are commonly used in translation questions, like this kind of questions?

Simple past tense, sometimes present tense. It depends on the specific context. If you can use both, then choose one, because the sentence translation question only needs to be written correctly, and it doesn't have to be exactly the same as the answer. That's what our teacher said, as long as the sentences are fluent and express the meaning of the original text, there are no mistakes in grammar during the exam. However, we usually have to revise the exercises according to the answers. After all, at present, it is not as good as other people's standard answers, and we still need to learn and improve ourselves.