jmc

The interior angles of a trapezoid consist of two pairs of congruent angles. Therefore, if the smaller angle measure is $x$ and the larger angle measure is $4x$, then the measures of the four angles are $x$, $x$, $4x$, and $4x$. Summing these measures and setting the result equal to $360$ degrees, we find $10x=360^{\circ }⟹x=\boxed{36}$ degrees.