They can't hear an echo in small room because in it the sound can't be reflected back. For an echo of a sound to be heard,the minimum distance between the source of sound and the walls of the room should be 17.2 m.
Given the speed and the distance, to find time you can use the formula speed is equal to distance over time. From there you can manipulate the equation for time to equal the distance divided by speed. Time is equal to 18.4 meters divided by 35m/s which equals 0.526 seconds.