Are you surprised by the correct answer?
This is a nice question, but I don't think you can say there is only one "correct" answer, at least in a grammatical sense. Subjunctive mood is never grammatically necessary. It just allows you to better express subtleties. It is a great advantage to know how to use it well but it is, after all, a "mood", and nobody can insist that you display a certain mood.
I do like the question, but I would have asked for the "best answer" rather than the "correct answer". If you omit "high", the correctness of the other answer becomes apparent.