7. (3 points) As shown in the figure, if the side length of each small square is 2, then the area of the shaded part in the figure is



保留了源文本的换行和格式。
【Answer】Solution: According to the analysis, as shown in the figure, after cutting and rearranging the shaded parts, we get: at this point, the number of small squares in the shaded area of the figure is: 18,

The area of each small square is: $2 \times 2=4$,
Therefore, the area of the shaded part $=18 \times 4=72$.
So the answer is: 72.