The correct time is 4:15. To find this, we first need to understand the information provided in the text: 1. The clock shows 3:45. This is the starting time. 2. The clock is 15 minutes slow, which means we need to add 15 minutes to the time shown by the clock to get the actual time. 3. The actual time is "a quarter past an hour." This means that the actual time is 15 minutes past an hour or halfway between two hours. Adding 15 minutes to 3:45 (the time shown by the clock) gives us 4:00. Since the actual time is a quarter past an hour, it's halfway between 4:00 and 4:30, which is 4:15. So, the correct time is 4:15, and in HH:MM format, it's 16:15 or 4:15 PM.