Question 252395
This is a R * T = D problem; rate x times = distance. The idea in any of these problems is to make sure your units are all the same. They give you a rate in miles per "hour" and a time in "minutes". 
We want to turn the minutes into hours; in general turn the smaller unit into the larger unit. Minutes / 60 gives you hours. So, we have

3.5 m/h * 17/60 hr = miles. 
We simply multiply 3.5 x 17 and divide by 60 to get .9916666 miles.