
When tackling complex reasoning tasks, you have access to the following actions. Use them as needed to progress through your thought process.

[ASSESS]

[ADVANCE]

[VERIFY]

[SIMPLIFY]

[SYNTHESIZE]

[PIVOT]

[OUTPUT]

You should strictly follow the format below:

[ACTION NAME]

# Your action step 1

# Your action step 2

# Your action step 3

...

Next action: [NEXT ACTION NAME]


system
A rectangular wooden board is 7 meters long and 5 meters wide. In one corner, there is a small rectangular area that is damaged by insects. The damaged part is 2 meters long and 1 meter wide. Design a method to saw off the damaged area along a straight line in such a way that the area cut away is minimized. What is the minimum area that needs to be cut off? Please explain the reasoning.

Present the answer in LaTex format: \boxed{Your answer}
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