5、As a research shows, when it comes to strong emotion, the once serious British are now happy to shed tears quite openly．

"30% of all British males have cried in the last month．That is a very high figure," said Peter Marsh, director of the Social Issues Research Center．"Only 2% said they could not remember when they last cried", the head of the research group said．Long gone is the "No Tears — We’ re British" time when emotion was considered a bad form．"Among 2,000 people, very few in their forties or fifties had seen their father cry．Now it is twice as many, he told reporters．"77% of men considered crying in public increasingly acceptable．" Almost half the British men opened the floodgates over a sad movie, book or TV program．Self-pity got 17% crying． 9% cried at weddings．

From the days of Empire, the British have always considered themselves models of reserve （含蓄）, laughing at "excitable foreigners" who show no self-control．

Marsh argued the difference was still there: "We have probably not caught up with the Americans or the Italians when it comes to expressing emotions．"

"But we are clearly changing．What we take as typical British reserve has significantly faded．"

Women’ s battle for equal rights has certainly had an effect -- both in the workplace and at home． "Men in their twenties or thirties are interacting （交互影响） with women on equal terms much more than a generation ago． They have to relate to the opposite sex． Women become more man-like and men become more female．That transfers into the workplace too．" Marsh said．

1．The underlined phrase "opened the floodgates" probably means

A．fought against flood                             B．kept their feeling inside

C．opened doors for others                       D．burst into tears

2．The British used to think crying in public ______

A．natural                    B．polite               C．unacceptable           D．important

3．The research showed that British men cried most

A．over a sad film                                 B．over self-pity

C．at wedding                                    D．at graduation

4．The last paragraph is mainly about

A．women’s struggle for equal rights          B．the cause of the change

C．interaction between men and women    D．women’[s influence on men