
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
An artist has 18 cubes, each with an edge of 1 meter. She arranges them in two layers where the first layer (on the ground) consists of 9 cubes forming a 3x3 square and the second layer, directly on top, also forms a 3x3 square. She paints only the surfaces of the cubes that are exposed to the outside. How many square meters does she paint?
A) 38 square meters
B) 42 square meters
C) 49 square meters
D) 54 square meters
E) 60 square meters

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