Answer:The area is 5.5 cm squared.Step-by-step explanation:To find the area, you have to find the areas of the rectangle and the triangle separately and then add your two values together.The formula for the area of a rectangle is as follows:[tex]A=lw[/tex]In this formula, "l" refers to length and "w" refers to width.As shown in the diagram, your length is 1.5 cm and your width is 2 cm.Simply plug these numbers into the formula and simplify.[tex]A=1.5*2\\A=3[/tex]The area of the rectangle is 3 cm squared.Next, find the area of the triangle. The formula for the area of a triangle is as follows:[tex]A=\frac{1}{2} bh[/tex]In this formula, "b" refers to the measure of the base and "h" refers to the measure of the height.Your base (b) is 2 cm.To find your height, subtract the length of the rectangle (1.5 cm) from the total length of the shape (4 cm). This will give you a height of 2.5 cm.Next, plug your values into the formula and simplify.[tex]A=\frac{1}{2} *2*2.5\\A=1*2.5\\A=2.5[/tex]The area of the triangle is 2.5 cm squared.Add the area of the rectangle (3 cm squared) to the area of the triangle (2.5 cm squared), and you have the area of the entire figure (5.5 cm squared).Note: Carlos' mistake in the problem is that he forgot to subtract the length of the rectangle from the length of the entire shape, and incorrectly used 4 cm as his height for the triangle rather than 2.5 cm.