The shareholder's statements suggest concerns about the company's move into food services and its potential impact on the current operations and the inherent risk of the food service industry compared to pharmaceuticals. To determine what is most strongly supported by these statements, let's analyze the options:
(A) The company’s present operations require increased funding.
- The shareholder's statements mention that the move into food services may siphon off funds needed by the current operations, which implies that the present operations may require increased funding. However, this option doesn't explicitly state that the present operations require increased funding, so it's not the most strongly supported.
(B) Investment into pharmaceuticals would not siphon off money from other operations.
- The statements do not directly address whether investment in pharmaceuticals would siphon off money from other operations, so this option is not directly supported.
(C) The company will lose money as it expands into the food service industry.
- The shareholder's statements express concerns about the food service industry's volatility and higher inherent risk compared to pharmaceuticals. While the statements suggest the potential for financial challenges in the food service industry, they do not definitively state that the company will lose money. So, this option is not the most strongly supported.
(D) Only if the company expands its operations into pharmaceuticals are increased profits possible.
- This statement goes beyond what the shareholder's statements suggest. The statements express concerns about the food service industry's inherent risk but do not make a specific claim about increased profits being possible only through expansion into pharmaceuticals.
(E) The company has a greater chance of losing money in food services than in pharmaceuticals. - The shareholder's statements do express concerns about the food service industry's volatility and higher inherent risk compared to pharmaceuticals. Therefore, the statement that the company has a greater chance of losing money in food services than in pharmaceuticals is most strongly supported by the shareholder's statements.
Option (E) is the most strongly supported by the shareholder's statements because it directly aligns with their concerns about the relative risks of the food service industry compared to pharmaceuticals.