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.

Which statement should be placed third after the statements are rearranged?

Correct Answer: Statement (A)

To determine the correct order of the statements, let us analyze the logical flow and contextual links between them step-by-step:

1. Introductory Sentence (First Position):
Statement (C) ("For many years, community advocacy has largely involved resisting developments considered harmful.") introduces the general background topic of traditional community advocacy. Since it introduces a standalone concept without referencing prior text, it serves as the opening sentence of the paragraph.

2. Elaboration (Second Position):
Statement (B) ("Campaigners have therefore opposed projects such as new mines, expanded highways, and waste-disposal sites.") begins with the conjunction "therefore," connecting directly to (C) by listing specific examples of the harmful developments that campaigners oppose.

3. Transition/Contrast (Third Position):
Statement (A) ("Yet that habit of merely blocking proposals cannot, by itself, address the present challenge.") introduces a contrasting viewpoint starting with "Yet." The demonstrative phrase "that habit of merely blocking proposals" directly refers to the actions of resisting/opposing detailed in statements (C) and (B). Hence, statement (A) logically comes third.

4. Future Direction & Requirements (Fourth & Fifth Positions):
Statement (E) ("Meeting this goal will demand substantial investment in new public infrastructure.") proposes the necessary forward path to address the challenge mentioned in (A), followed by Statement (D) ("At the same time, ageing public systems must be renewed rapidly with lower-impact alternatives.") which adds a complementary requirement.

Complete Coherent Sequence:
The correct order of the paragraph is C – B – A – E – D.

Thus, the statement that should be placed third is statement (A).