A good friend of mine was complaining about her son the other day. “Did you notice,” she started, “how he didn't wait for me to get my salad before he dived into his?”
True enough, the boy attacked his plate faster than a cat in the wild. Without manners, we're no more than animals. Actually, that's not true, I've been watching and feeding a group of wild cats, and they show unusual politeness toward each other. Even when food is scarce, they take turns, leaving at least a small part for the next in line.
My mother educated her three children to have good manners all the time. We were made to feel very uncomfortable as if we were sitting on pins and needles until we got used to saying please, thank you ,pardon me, and I'm sorry. And I have to say, while it was a painful learning experience, it was one of the most valuable.
I can't tell you how often I sat with my friends, eating at their dinner tables, and their parents thought highly of my good manners. While it was a little embarrassing, I knew even then that my mother's teachings were paying off.
Many years later, when I was attending seminars across the country, my manners were quite useful.
While I regret that I haven't been a perfect example, I'm still working on it. I suppose, in this regard, my mother lives on through me, I didn't have her beautiful singing voice or her green eyes, but she did make sure I received one of her finest characteristics.
59. What does the writer think of her experience of learning good manners?
A. Easy and relaxing B. Painful and valuable
C. Easy but useless D. Too horrible
60. We can infer from the passage that the writer .
A. is surely liked by everyone around her
B. is not satisfied with most people's manners around her
C. thinks she has been a perfect example to the young
D. thanks her mother for teaching her the good manners a lot