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 appear first in the correctly arranged paragraph?

Correct Option: Option C

To determine which statement should appear first in the paragraph, we need to identify the independent topic sentence that introduces the main subject without relying on preceding context.

Step 1: Identify the opening sentence (Topic Sentence)
Statement (C) states: "For many years, community advocacy has largely involved resisting developments considered harmful."
This statement introduces a broad, independent concept (the historical pattern of community advocacy) and sets the stage for the rest of the discussion. It does not contain any pronoun references, transitional words, or conjunctions that require prior information. Thus, Statement (C) serves as the ideal opening sentence of the paragraph.

Step 2: Analyze why other statements cannot be the first sentence
• Statement (A) begins with the contrast conjunction "Yet" and references "that habit of merely blocking proposals", which directly refers back to the actions described in statements C and B.
• Statement (B) contains the transition word "therefore", indicating a result of a previously mentioned idea (advocacy resisting harmful developments).
• Statement (D) starts with the transitional phrase "At the same time", which connects it to an existing situation.
• Statement (E) refers to "Meeting this goal", which implies a specific objective has already been mentioned in a previous sentence.

Step 3: Establish the coherent logical flow
1. (C) introduces the traditional role of community advocacy.
2. (B) elaborates on how campaigners opposed harmful projects (following from C).
3. (A) introduces a pivot by noting that merely blocking proposals is insufficient for current challenges.
4. (D) highlights the need to rapidly renew ageing public systems.
5. (E) concludes by explaining what is required to meet this goal.

Therefore, Statement (C) is the statement that should appear first in the correctly arranged paragraph.