单选题 British hopes of a gold medal in the Olympic Games suffered ______ yesterday, when Hunter failed to qualify during the preliminary heats.
A. a sharp set-back B. severe set-back
C. a severe blown-up D. sharp blown-up

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】set something back的意思是to reduce something to a weaker or less advanced state，即“减少”的意思，例如 This result has set back their chance of winning the competition．修饰减少的程度用sharp恰当，severe表示“严厉的，严格的”，所以本题选A，表示英国在奥运会上夺金牌的希望昨天急速减少。