【推荐1】There should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that the influence of media is growing stronger and stronger as time passes by. If you have noticed, the speed at which news travels around the world has become faster with the development and advancement in technology. Media are actually influencing people in different ways.

Whether you admit it or not, watching movies and programs on the television or our laptop, ipad and other mobile devices as we relax takes us away into this different kingdom—that is, there are parts in our being that feel we are the ones in the movie and sometimes we even feel what they are feeling as we get caught in the emotional excitement. The effect of media does not stop when the movie or program ends. And this effect might just be the cause of behavioral changes in people.

With action films, children tend to follow the movie hero, leading them to violent (暴力的) acts, thinking that it is acceptable because his hero became successful in the end. There are cartoon programs that show acts of violence and dishonest acts against others. In return, children tend to copy the characters and think that cheating other people is a way to deal with their problems. They learn to transfer these ill behaviors to friends.

There are some television shows and movies that attempt to create an atmosphere to change the view of people towards social issues such as racial discrimination (种族歧视). In the minds of other people, the effect can be for the better, but some unfortunately for the worse.

There had been instances in the past that young people drunk drive copying their favorite actress. There was also a case where somebody set a subway ticket booth on fire because he saw it in his favorite film. These are just a few examples of the disturbing influence of media on people’s behavior.

An explanation to these acts is that these people could not distinguish fantasy from reality. They get caught up in the kingdom of what they had been watching and the images and scenes become deeply rooted in their minds.

So the media is largely responsible for giving people false ideas and unhealthy pictures, which lead to misbehavior against other people, and can create a dangerous cycle among individuals as they attempt to do the same or even worse things to others. The sad reality is that no one is turning off their televisions or disconnecting from these influences. The only way to change is when people no longer buy into it, demand it, and watch it.

【推荐2】One of our most firmly established ideas of masculinity（男子气概）is that men don't cry. Although he might weep bitter tears at a funeral, a real man is expected to quickly regain control. Sobbing openly is for girls. But historical and literary evidence suggests that, in the past, not only did men cry in public, but no one saw it as weak or shameful.    1    

In written records of the Middle Ages, we find one ambassador repeatedly bursting into tears when addressing Philip the Good, and the entire audience at a peace conference throwing themselves on the ground, sobbing and weeping as they listen to the speeches. Still more remarkably, there's no mention of the men in these stories trying to hold back or hide their tears. No one pretends to have something in his eye.    2     They cry in a crowded hall with their heads held high.

    3    The most obvious possibility is that this shift is the result of changes that took place as we moved from a feudal（封建的），agricultural society to one that was urban and industrial. In the Middle Ages, a typical village had only 50 — 300 inhabitants, most of them related by blood or marriage. If men cried, they did so with people who would empathize. But from the 18th through the20th centuries, the population became increasingly urbanised.     4     Furthermore, changes in the economy required men to work together in factories and offices where emotional expression and even private conversation were discouraged as time-wasting.

Yet human beings weren't designed to swallow their emotions, and there's reason to believe that holding back tears can be harmful to your well-being. Research from the 1980s has suggested a relationship between a person's rate of stress-related illnesses and inadequate crying.     5     A study has found that in countries where people cry the most, they also report the highest levels of satisfaction.

So it might be time to return to the free-flowing tears of the past. When misfortune strikes, let us all — men and women — join together and cry until our sleeves are soaked.