🐢 The tortoise that never stops, and the rabbit that rests

A closer look at one question · SMC 2026 mock, Question 27 (bank id C2)

A tortoise crawls 8 m every minute, without stopping. A rabbit runs 40 m every minute, but rests for 3 minutes after every 2 minutes of running. How far has the rabbit run by the time the tortoise has crawled 360 m?

1 The tortoise never stops — use it as the CLOCK

The tortoise's speed is steady, so the TIME taken is easy to find: 360 ÷ 8 = 45 minutes for the whole race.

2 The rabbit's pattern repeats every 5 minutes

1 cycle
runs 2 min (80 m)rests 3 min

One cycle is 2 + 3 = 5 minutes, and in it the rabbit covers 2 × 40 = 80 m.

3 How many whole cycles fit in 45 minutes?

5m
5m
5m
⋯
5m

9 cycles of 5 minutes = 45 minutes

45 ÷ 5 = 9 cycles, so the rabbit runs 9 × 80 = 720 m.

720 m

The trap: working out 45 × 40 = 1800 m and forgetting the rabbit spends 3 of every 5 minutes resting. Find the TIME first, then the repeating cycle.