Rearrange the following sentences to form a meaningful paragraph.

(A) Spending time among plants, caring for greenery, and watching living things grow provides a restorative break from screen fatigue.
(B) Consequently, urban gardening has emerged as a popular therapeutic practice for city dwellers seeking tranquility.
(C) In modern metropolitan life, relentless work deadlines and urban noise frequently exhaust people's mental energy.
(D) This surge in botanical hobbies highlights an increasing emphasis on mindfulness and self-care in daily routines.
(E) Individuals are increasingly turning to small-scale green spaces to restore their sense of inner calm.

Which of the following should be the SECOND sentence after the sequence is logically rearranged?

The correct answer is E.

To find the correct order of the sentences, we need to analyze the logical context and connections between them:
1. Sentence (C) introduces the overarching topic and sets the background context regarding mental fatigue caused by modern city life: "In modern metropolitan life, relentless work deadlines and urban noise frequently exhaust people's mental energy." Hence, it is the first sentence.
2. Sentence (E) directly responds to the problem introduced in (C) by stating how individuals cope with this exhaustion: "Individuals are increasingly turning to small-scale green spaces to restore their sense of inner calm." Therefore, sentence (E) forms the second sentence.
3. Sentence (A) expands on how spending time in these green spaces helps restore mental energy: "Spending time among plants, caring for greenery, and watching living things grow provides a restorative break from screen fatigue." This naturally forms the third sentence.
4. Sentence (B) uses the cohesive linking word "Consequently" to state the broader trend arising from this behavior: "Consequently, urban gardening has emerged as a popular therapeutic practice for city dwellers seeking tranquility." This serves as the fourth sentence.
5. Sentence (D) provides a concluding reflection on "This surge in botanical hobbies" (referring back to urban gardening in B): "This surge in botanical hobbies highlights an increasing emphasis on mindfulness and self-care in daily routines." This forms the fifth and final sentence.

The complete logically coherent paragraph follows the order: C - E - A - B - D.

Therefore, the SECOND sentence in the rearranged sequence is Sentence (E).