differences between 非常好 and 特别棒 ALSO if I know someone's name, do I 认识 them?

Question

I need help with a question for a Chinese assignment

I have to choose a suitable answer to the sentence, the sentence is

你知道吗？ 昨天的足球比赛我们沈阳队赢了天津队5：1。 沈阳队的水平比天津队高得多了 。

Question: 沈阳队的水平怎么样？

Choices:

A. 还可以

B. 不怎么样

C. 非常好

D. 特别棒

E. 天津队的水平比沈阳队高得多

I know the answer is either c or d but I don't know the difference between these two. Which is more suitable here??

ALSO...

for this following dialogue:

A: 你认识那个姑娘吗？

B: 见过，但是不认识，你呢？

A: 我知道她叫小燕子，但是我不太了解她.

B: 那她一定不是你的好朋友。

Question: person A 认识她吗？

Choices:

A. 不认识她

B. 认识她

C. 了解她

D. 她们是好朋友

I am really confused here. I don't know if person A 认识她 or not. I understand there is a lack of context in the question too so that also makes it a little difficult. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Answer 1

The first question is very confusing. I do not agree that the answer has to be C or D. With only the information you gave us, I can only rule out answer E 天津队的水平比沈阳对高得多. Since Shenyang beat Tianjin 5:1, then Shenyang has to be playing at a much higher level than Tianjin. Other than that, we don't know how good Team Shenyang really is, unless we know how good, or bad a team Team Tianjin is. It is possible that Tianjin is a really, really bad team, and any mediocre team can beat them 5:1. Without further context, all four answers A B C D are possible.

The second question is much better. 认识 is to know personally. Knowing just the name doesn't count. I know the names of a lot of celebrities, but I know very few personally. I cannot say 我認識他們，only 我知道他們的名字。

Having said that, the second question is also a little bit confusing. A says：“我不太了解她”。 This means A doesn't know her well. But does that necessarily mean he does not know her at all? Personally, I would never say “我不太了解她” about someone I do not know at all.

Sorry if I managed to confuse the OP further. Without more context, these questions are just not clear and fair for the learner.

Answer 2

I'm not sure about the first case, the speaker emphasised that Shenyang team score was much higher than Tianjin so maybe they want you to choose 特别棒 - awesome? Still, if 非常好 is the wrong answer id be surprised beause it's also positive.

The second is definitely 不认识 because 认识 means to be familiar with someone, know them personally, meanwhile he only 知道她。 You can say 我知道 Tom Cruise. (Because you recognize his existence and you know who he is) BUT he doesn't know who you are, you've never met him personally so you can't say 我认识他。

Answer 3

For 水平, neither 非常好(very good) nor 特别棒 (really great) is a correct description. Because 水平(level) can only be high or low, not good or bad.

With the process of elimination. E. cannot be true; C and D are incorrect usages of adjectives, the correct answer would be A or B. Since 沈阳 can score 5 goals, it can't be too bad, therefore I decided A. 还可以 (not too bad/ a passing grade) is the correct answer. Notice defeating another team 5-1 doesn't prove you are a good team, it just proves you are better than that particular team

Imagine a child scored two goals in a game, and people are praising him, his coach is more likely to give the remark 还可以 than 特别棒 to show he is proud in a modest manner

The keyword in the second question is '不太了解她' (Don't know her well) which implies person A does know her. Therefore the answer is B. 认识她

As for the difference between 非常好 and 特别棒, 非常好 is more literary and 特别棒 is more colloquial. Both mean 'very good' or 'great'

Answer 4

Q1:

if i have to choose one out of c or d, I would say '非常好',this is more common, i guess?

Q2:

‘认识’的定义：you can link its name to itself. moreover, person A says: 我不太了解她，('了解’goes further than '认识’)this hints that A 认识，但并不了解。 otherwise， if A 不认识她，A would not say he does not 了解， but to say he does not 认识

because 了解 goes further than 认识 in terms of the extent of knowing somebody.

Answer 5

Question: 沈阳队的水平怎么样？

• C. 非常好

The answer is like, Team Tianjin got the higher/better/greater level. But you cannot pick higher here, you have to struggle between better and greater.

I would like to go with better rather than greater.

Also, 棒 is more capable for describing one's performance, instead of level. Because it is super subjective in most of the cases.

Question: person A 认识她吗？

• B. 认识她

Person A knows her, but he/she does not know her well.

Also you can do some single choice MAGIC here:

If D is correct, they are good friends, C is definitely correct, of course Person A knows her well. And If you know somebody well, there is no doubt you know him/her.

In short, if D is correct B and C are also correct, if C is correct then B is also correct. As we have to pick exactly one choice, we won't pick C nor D.