Problem:
A tortoise challenges a hare to a race. The hare eagerly agrees and quickly runs ahead, leaving the slow-moving tortoise behind. Confident that he will win, the hare stops to take a nap. Meanwhile, the tortoise walks at a slow steady pace for the entire race. The hare awakes and runs to the finish line, only to find the tortoise already there. Which of the following graphs matches the description of the race, showing the distance traveled by the two animals over time from start to finish?
Answer Choices:
A. 
B. 
C. 
D. 
E. 
Solution:
The hare's path is the one with the horizontal line in the middle, which represents the period where the hare took a nap. We also know that the time it takes the hare to reach the finish line is longer than the time it took the tortoise. This means that the end of the hare's path should have a larger -value. This is exactly graph . Thus, the correct answer is .
Answer: .
The problems on this page are the property of the MAA's American Mathematics Competitions