Spanning tree sim - confused

[contiva]

I'm having a mental block with Q S.22 ( spanning tree sim). if host A needs to contact Server 1 and given the information in the topology - surely the link between Switch D & Switch A would be up?

Without link costs there are multiple permutations - am I missing something from this question.....

Either A-D or C-D could be blocked, likewise A-B or B-C could be blocked..

please convince me A-E-C-D is the correct answer  ???

thanks in advance