Directions: Rearrange the following five sentences (A), (B), (C), (D), and (E) in a proper sequence to form a meaningful paragraph, then answer the question.

(A) Nevertheless, fast-food corporations continue to defend the safety of these synthetic additives.
(B) Over the past few decades, metabolic disorders in children have risen significantly.
(C) Numerous scientific studies point to the trace presence of potential metabolic disruptors in processed foods.
(D) According to these studies, everyday convenience meals contain preservatives that have not undergone rigorous long-term safety testing.
(E) Artificial food additives are highly suspected of being a major driver of this trend.

Which of the following should be the LAST sentence after rearrangement?

The correct answer is A (Sentence A).

To determine the correct sequence of the paragraph and identify the final sentence, let us break down the logical connections between the sentences step-by-step:

1. Sentence (B) acts as the logical opening statement because it introduces the primary subject and trend: "Over the past few decades, metabolic disorders in children have risen significantly."
2. Sentence (E) directly follows (B) because the phrase "this trend" explicitly points back to the rise in metabolic disorders mentioned in sentence (B): "Artificial food additives are highly suspected of being a major driver of this trend."
3. Sentence (C) elaborates on the food additives mentioned in (E) by bringing in scientific evidence: "Numerous scientific studies point to the trace presence of potential metabolic disruptors in processed foods."
4. Sentence (D) builds directly on (C), with the phrase "these studies" linking back to the scientific studies introduced in sentence (C): "According to these studies, everyday convenience meals contain preservatives that have not undergone rigorous long-term safety testing."
5. Sentence (A) provides a contrasting conclusion to the entire argument using the transition word "Nevertheless" and referring back to "these synthetic additives" discussed previously: "Nevertheless, fast-food corporations continue to defend the safety of these synthetic additives."

Therefore, the complete and coherent order of sentences is B → E → C → D → A.
The sentence that comes LAST in the sequence is sentence (A).