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 will be the THIRD sentence after the rearrangement?

The correct answer is A.

Step-by-step rearrangement of the paragraph:

1. First sentence (C): "In modern metropolitan life, relentless work deadlines and urban noise frequently exhaust people's mental energy."
Sentence (C) introduces the overarching theme and the core problem—mental exhaustion due to modern urban lifestyle. This serves as the natural opening sentence for the paragraph.

2. Second sentence (E): "Individuals are increasingly turning to small-scale green spaces to restore their sense of inner calm."
Sentence (E) logically connects to sentence (C) by stating how people respond to this mental exhaustion—by seeking out small-scale green spaces.

3. Third sentence (A): "Spending time among plants, caring for greenery, and watching living things grow provides a restorative break from screen fatigue."
Sentence (A) elaborates on what individuals do within these green spaces and explains how interacting with plants restores their energy.

4. Fourth sentence (B): "Consequently, urban gardening has emerged as a popular therapeutic practice for city dwellers seeking tranquility."
Sentence (B) builds upon the benefits described in (A) using the transition word "Consequently," defining this movement as urban gardening.

5. Fifth sentence (D): "This surge in botanical hobbies highlights an increasing emphasis on mindfulness and self-care in daily routines."
Sentence (D) concludes the paragraph by referencing "This surge in botanical hobbies" (referring to the popularity of urban gardening established in B) and reflecting on its overall significance.

Coherent Paragraph Sequence: C → E → A → B → D

Thus, the sentence that comes THIRD in the rearranged paragraph is sentence (A).