Xiao Ming plans to read a novel every few days. If he reads 60 pages a day, he can finish it five days earlier. If he reads 40 pages a day, he will finish it three days later. Calculating how much faster reading 60 pages a day was than reading 40 pages a day: Reading 60 pages a day is better than reading 40 pages a day, reading 40 pages per hour, 60 pages = 067 hours Therefore, the total time Little Ming needed was: 1/067 = 1667(hours) 5 days ago 1667/067 = 28(hours) Days of delay Therefore, Xiao Ming needed 28 hours to finish reading this novel, which was longer than expected. Next, we can calculate the ratio of reading 60 pages a day to reading 40 pages a day, reading 40 pages per hour, reading 60 pages = 067 hours 's progress: Reading 60 pages a day is better than reading 40 pages a day. Reading 60 pages per hour/40 pages = 15 hours Therefore, the total time Little Ming needed was: 1 × 15 = 0667(hour) 5 days ago 0667/15 = 04(hours) Days of delay Therefore, Xiaoming needed four hours to finish reading this novel, which was shorter than the estimated time. To sum up, Xiaoming plans to read a novel every few days. If he reads 60 pages a day, he can finish it five days earlier. If he reads 40 pages a day, he will finish it three days later. If reading 60 pages a day was faster than reading 40 pages a day, reading 40 pages per hour, reading 60 pages per hour = 067 hours, the total time required was 1667 hours; if reading 60 pages a day was slower than reading 40 pages a day, reading 60 pages per hour, reading 60 pages per hour = 15 hours, the total time required was 0667 hours.