2022 Math League International Summer Challenge, Grade 3

(Unofficial version, for reference only)

Note: There are ten questions in total. Each question is worth 10 points each. The
total points are 100.

Question 1 (10 Points)

Objective:
Help as many ladybugs as possible land on the leaves.

Rules:
1. Ladybugs arrive in numerical order: Ladybug 1, Ladybug 2, Ladybug 3, etc.
2. You help each ladybug choose whether to land on the left leaf or the right leaf.
3. If on one leaf, the number of dots on two ladybugs adds up to the number of dots on a third
ladybug, all of the ladybugs fly away.

In the figure below, you put Ladybug 1 on the right leaf. Then you put Ladybug 2, Ladybug 3,
and Ladybug 4 on the left leaf. Then you put Ladybug 5 on the right leaf.

Now there is nowhere to put Ladybug 6.

If Ladybug 6 lands on the left leaf, all of the ladybugs will fly away, because 2 + 4 = 6.

If Ladybug 6 lands on the right leaf, all of the ladybugs will fly away, because 1 + 5 = 6.

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 You saw how to help 5 ladybugs. What is the largest number of ladybugs that you can help in
this case? The answer is 8, figure below.

Note: You can’t skip any ladybugs. For example, the following is not allowed. You place
Ladybug 1 and Ladybug 2 on the left leaf. Then you skip Ladybug 3, and place Ladybug 4 on
the left or right leaf. This skipping Ladybug 3 is not allowed. Ladybugs arrive in numerical
order, and you must place each of them on either leaf in numerical order. This is true for all
the following questions.

(a) If you started with Ladybug 2 instead of Ladybug 1, what is the largest number of ladybugs
that you can help? Ladybugs still arrive in increasing order: Ladybug 2, Ladybug 3, Ladybug
4, etc.

Note: Please enter 0 if your answer is infinitely many, which means you can place as many
ladybugs on the leaves as you want. There is no limit.

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 Answer: 11

(b) If only the odd-numbered ladybugs are out flying, what is the largest number of ladybugs that
you can help? Ladybugs still arrive in increasing order: Ladybug 1, Ladybug 3, Ladybug 5,
etc.

Note: Please enter 0 if your answer is infinitely many, which means you can place as many
ladybugs on the leaves as you want. There is no limit.

Answer: 0

(c) If only the even-numbered ladybugs are out flying, what is the largest number of ladybugs
that you can help? Ladybugs still arrive in increasing order: Ladybug 2, Ladybug 4, Ladybug
6, etc.

Note: Please enter 0 if your answer is infinitely many, which means you can place as many
ladybugs on the leaves as you want. There is no limit.

Answer: 8

(d) If only ladybugs that are numbered with multiples of 3 (3, 6, 9, 12, 15, …) are out flying,
what is the largest number of ladybugs that you can help? Ladybugs still arrive in increasing
order.

Note: Please enter 0 if your answer is infinitely many, which means you can place as many
ladybugs on the leaves as you want. There is no limit.

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 Answer: 8

(e) If only ladybugs that are numbered with non-multiples of 3 (1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13,
14, …) are out flying, what is the largest number of ladybugs that you can help? Ladybugs
still arrive in increasing order.

Note: Please enter 0 if your answer is infinitely many, which means you can place as many
ladybugs on the leaves as you want. There is no limit.

Answer: 0

Question 2 (10 Points)

Objective:
Fill your entire garden with plots of carrots.

Rule:
A plot of carrots consists of two squares of your garden that are either vertically or horizontally
next to each other.

Example:

(a) Is it possible to fill a 3 x 3 garden with plots of carrots, figure below?

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Note: Please enter 1 if your answer is Yes, and 0 if your answer is No.

Answer: 0

(b) You have a 3 x 3 garden that has a big boulder blocking one of the corner squares, figure
below. Is it possible to fill your remaining garden with plots of carrots?

Note: Please enter 1 if your answer is Yes, and 0 if your answer is No.

Answer: 1

(c) You have a 3 x 3 garden that has a big boulder blocking the center square, figure below. Is it
possible to fill your remaining garden with plots of carrots?

Note: Please enter 1 if your answer is Yes, and 0 if your answer is No.

Answer: 1

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(d) You have a 3 x 3 garden that has a big boulder blocking one of the side squares, figure
below. Is it possible to fill your remaining garden with plots of carrots?

Note: Please enter 1 if your answer is Yes, and 0 if your answer is No.

Answer: 0

(e) You have a 19 x 19 garden that has a big boulder (represented by a red X) blocking the top
left square, figure below. Is it possible to fill your remaining garden with plots of carrots?

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Note: Please enter 1 if your answer is Yes, and 0 if your answer is No.

Answer: 1

(f) You have a 19 x 19 garden that has a big boulder (represented by a red X) blocking one of
the squares, figure below. Is it possible to fill your remaining garden with plots of carrots?

Note: Please enter 1 if your answer is Yes, and 0 if your answer is No.

Answer: 0

(g) You have a 19 x 19 garden that has a big boulder (represented by a red X) blocking one of
the squares, figure below. Is it possible to fill your remaining garden with plots of carrots?

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Note: Please enter 1 if your answer is Yes, and 0 if your answer is No.

Answer: 1

Question 3 (10 Points)

In the rectangle below, line segment MN separates the rectangle into 2 sections. What is the
largest number of sections into which the rectangle can be separated when 4 line segments are
drawn through the rectangle?

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Answer: 11

Question 4 (10 Points)

In the ordered sequence 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 4, …, each positive integer n occurs in a block of
n terms. If I add the reciprocals of all the terms, in order beginning with the first term, then at
some point the sum will be

A) 98.1
B) 99.25
C) 100.5
D) 102.75

Answer: B

Question 5 (10 Points)

All the positive integers with an initial digit of 2 are written down in succession, 2, 20, 21, 22,
…. What is the 2022nd digit thus written?

Answer:2

Question 6 (10 Points)

I bought a new car. Lee said it was a blue Dodge, Pat said it was a black Chevrolet, and Sandy
said it was a black Ford. If each person correctly identified either the make of the car or its color,
but not both, what was the color and the make of my new car?

Note: Dodge, Chevrolet, and Ford are three different makes of cars.

Choices:
(a) Blue Dodge
(b) Black Dodge
(c) Blue Chevrolet
(d) Black Chevrolet
(e) Blue Ford
(f) Black Ford

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Answer: (b)

Question 7 (10 Points)

Starting with the letter S on the top and only moving one letter at a time downward to the left or
right, how many different paths from top to bottom spell SNOW?

Hint: In the figure below, one path is demonstrated by moving from S to the leftmost N on the
second row (counting from the top), then from N to the leftmost O on the third row, and from O
to the leftmost W on the fourth row. The question is asking you to find out the total number of all
different paths from top to bottom spelling SNOW.

Answer: 8

Question 8 (10 Points)

A group of kids are having snowball fight during the winter break. On average, 5 kids use 15
snowballs every minute, and 2 kids can make 6 snowballs every 15 seconds. If there are 20 kids
in total, what is the minimum number of kids who need to make snowballs, so that the rest of
the kids will never run out of ammunition?

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 Answer: 4

Question 9 (10 Points)

Each day, a new row with an alternating pattern is added to the bottom of a Christmas tree. The
tree will have the shape shown in the picture below on the third day. How many green triangles
will be in a tree at the end of the first week?

Answer: 28

Question 10 (10 Points)

At the end of the day, shop helper Jenny counted all the chocolate bars that remained on the
shelves of Candy Store, but in hurry to go home, the number she wrote in the journal was
missing its final digit (ones digit). The following morning, Jenny’s boss found out that the
number of chocolate bars on the shelves was greater by 89 than the number found in Jenny’s
journal. How many chocolate bars were on the shelves?

Answer: 98

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