Question

here is a right trapezoidal prism.
the prism is sliced midway between the trapezoidal bases and parallel to them.
what is the shape of the cross section?
trapezoid right triangle
rectangle parallelogram that is not a rectangle

Explanation:

Step1: Recall Prism Cross - Section Property

A right trapezoidal prism has trapezoidal bases. When a prism is sliced parallel to its bases, the cross - section should be congruent in shape to the bases (or similar in the case of a non - uniform slice, but here it's midway and parallel).

Step2: Analyze the Base Shape and Slice

The base of the prism is a trapezoid (since it's a right trapezoidal prism). When we slice the prism midway between the trapezoidal bases and parallel to them, the cross - section will have the same shape as the base. A trapezoid is a quadrilateral with at least one pair of parallel sides. The cross - section here will also be a trapezoid because the slicing is parallel to the trapezoidal bases, so it will inherit the trapezoidal shape (with the two parallel sides corresponding to the parallel sides of the trapezoidal base, and the other two sides connecting them). A right triangle has three sides, a rectangle has four right angles and two pairs of equal - length parallel sides (our base is a trapezoid, not a rectangle, so the cross - section can't be a rectangle), and a parallelogram that is not a rectangle would not have the trapezoidal (with one pair of non - equal - length parallel sides, in the case of a right trapezoid) shape.

Answer:

trapezoid