I apologize for the oversight. Let's recalculate the area of the composite figure:
To find the total area of the composite figure, we need to consider the areas of the two rectangles and subtract the area of the overlapping region.
Area of the larger rectangle = 5 x 4 = 20 square units
Area of the smaller rectangle = 3 x 2 = 6 square units
Now, we need to subtract the area of the overlapping region, which is the 2 x 1 rectangle in the bottom left:
Area of overlapping region = 2 x 1 = 2 square units
Therefore, the total area of the composite figure is:
Total area = (Area of larger rectangle + Area of smaller rectangle) - Area of overlapping region
Total area = (20 + 6) - 2
Total area = 26 - 2
Total area = 24 square units
So, the correct area of the composite figure is 24 square units.