Directions: Arrange the following five statements in a coherent order to create a meaningful paragraph, then answer the question.

(A) Yet that habit of merely blocking proposals cannot, by itself, address the present challenge.

(B) Campaigners have therefore opposed projects such as new mines, expanded highways, and waste-disposal sites.

(C) For many years, community advocacy has largely involved resisting developments considered harmful.

(D) At the same time, ageing public systems must be renewed rapidly with lower-impact alternatives.

(E) Meeting this goal will demand substantial investment in new public infrastructure.

After arranging the statements in the correct order, which statement appears second?

Correct Answer: B

To determine which statement appears second, we must analyze the logical flow of the statements to arrange them into a coherent paragraph.

Step 1: Identify the introductory statement
Statement (C) ("For many years, community advocacy has largely involved resisting developments considered harmful.") introduces the broad main topic regarding the historical approach of community advocacy. Therefore, statement (C) serves as the ideal opening sentence for the paragraph.

Step 2: Identify the second statement
Statement (B) ("Campaigners have therefore opposed projects such as new mines, expanded highways, and waste-disposal sites.") uses the conjunction "therefore" to directly elaborate on the idea introduced in statement (C), providing concrete examples of harmful developments. Thus, (B) logically follows (C).

Step 3: Complete the full paragraph sequence
- Statement (A) ("Yet that habit of merely blocking proposals cannot, by itself, address the present challenge.") references "that habit of merely blocking proposals", directly linking back to the opposition described in statements (C) and (B). This makes (A) the third statement.
- Statement (D) ("At the same time, ageing public systems must be renewed rapidly with lower-impact alternatives.") introduces the new necessity and challenge, placing it fourth.
- Statement (E) ("Meeting this goal will demand substantial investment in new public infrastructure.") references "this goal" (renewing ageing systems mentioned in D), making it the concluding fifth statement.

Step 4: Conclusion
The complete coherent order of the paragraph is (C) ⇒ (B) ⇒ (A) ⇒ (D) ⇒ (E).
The statement that appears second in this order is statement (B).