All the lines in the rectangular coordinate system shown in the figure

For problems like these, it is always best to try and find the larger shape that the shaded region is part of, even if it isn't explicitly drawn so that you can work from the implicit equation of Total - Unshaded = Shaded. It is this implicit shortcut that the exam expects students to be able to identify for these odd shapes. In this case draw/imagine an all encompassing rectangle with a horizontal line from point A to above point D and a vertical line from point A to the x-axis. This creates a rectangle of width 5 and height 7 and area 35. Then find the area of the two unshaded regions at the top right and bottom left corners which are 6 and 12 respectively. 35 - 6 - 12 = 17 for choice D.

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