- Janice and Edward are
editors at a newspaper.
Janice can edit 700 words
per minute and Edward
can edit 500 words per
minute. If each page of
text contains 800 words,
how many pages can they
edit, working together, in
20 minutes? - Two cars leave the same
point simultaneously,
going in the same direc-
tion along a straight, flat
road, one at 35 mph and
one at 50 mph. After how
many minuteswill the
cars be 5 miles apart? - What is the average speed, in miles per hour,
of a sprinter who runs^1 ⁄ 4 mile in 45 seconds?
(1 hour =60 minutes)
(A) 11.25 mph (B) 13.5 mph
(C) 20 mph (D) 22 mph
(E) 25 mph - A car travels dmiles in thours and arrives at
its destination 3 hours late. At what average
speed, in miles per hour, should the car have
gone in order to have arrived on time?
(A) t – 3 (B) (C)
(D) (E)
t
d− 3
d
t
− 3
d
t− 3
t
d
− 3
348 MCGRAW-HILL’S SAT
- If x> 1, how many hours does it take a train
traveling at x −1 miles per hour to travel
x^2 −1 miles?
(A) (B) (C) x
(D) x – 1(E)x + 1
- In three separate 1-mile races, Ellen finishes
with times of xminutes, yminutes, and zmin-
utes. What was her average speed, in miles per
hour,for all three races? (1 hour =60 minutes)
(A) (B)
(C) (D)
(E)
- A hare runs at a constant rate of amph, a tor-
toise runs at a constant rate of bmph, and
0 < b< a.If they race each other for dmiles, how
many more hours, in terms of a, b,and d,will it
take the tortoise to finish than the hare?
(A) (B)
(C) (D) ad – bd (E) a – b
- Sylvia drives 315 miles and arrives at her desti-
nation in 9 hours. If she had driven at an average
rate that was 10 mph faster than her actual rate,
how many hours sooner would she have arrived?
(A) 1.75 (B) 2.00 (C) 2.25
(D) 2.50 (E) 2.75
b
d
a
d
−
d
b
d
a
−
ab
d
+
2
xyz++
20
180
xyz++
xyz++
180
3
xyz++
xyz++
3
1
x+ 1
1
x− 1
SAT Practice 4: Rate Problems
....
1 2 3 4 5 7 8 9
6
1
0 2 3 4 5 7 8 9
6
1
0 2 3 4 5 7 8 9
6
1
0 2 3 4 5 7 8 9
6
....
1 2 3 4 5 7 8 9
6
1
0 2 3 4 5 7 8 9
6
1
0 2 3 4 5 7 8 9
6
1
0 2 3 4 5 7 8 9
6