CAE Reading and Use of English Part 7
You are going to read an article about a number. Six paragraphs have been removed from the article. Six paragraphs have been removed from the article. Choose from the paragraphs A – G the one which fits each gap (41-46). There is one extra paragraph which you do not need to use.
Three rules OK?
‘Stop, look and listen.’ It’s the age-old mantra about crossing roads taught to generations of children by parents, teachers and safety campaigners around the world. Imagine instead, if you will, that the mantra was ‘Stop, look, listen, think and cross.’ Would it be such a successful phrase? Would it stick in young minds? Probably not, but why?
If you look at the structure of my last sentence, you’ll see an example of what is called ‘The Rule of Three’, and it’s related to the way our brains instinctively search for patterns, three being the smallest number necessary to form one. It’s a combination of brevity and rhythm, and as the Latin phrase ‘omne trium perfectum’ says – anything in a set of three is perfect. Our short-term memories can process and retain chunks of three easily, and this can be used to influence our buying decisions.
Viewing them all through my new ‘rule of three’ mind frame it became clear that the product claims were grouped cleverly, to achieve maximum persuasive effect. This cereal bar will tickle your taste buds, keep your energy boosted and can be eaten on the go! Have one on the train, as a snack at work or add to your packed lunch. Three promises, three situations, three linguistic bullets to the brain and it’s in our memory.
Another interesting reason that our brains shy away from too much information goes back a long way, to when our ancestors had to make life or death choices in dangerous situations. Their survival was dependent on making the right choice, but an overload of options could have resulted in decision paralysis. Three choices was the maximum our brains could deal with. And so the pattern developed.
How often have you seen a similar reaction on the faces of audiences at talks? An awareness of the ‘rule of three’ is vital for a successful speechmaker to maintain interest. Politicians are masters. A prime minister once said to emphasise a point: ‘Education! Education! Education!’. People sat up and took notice. It was a powerful message which would have been diluted had he reduced his ‘Educations’ by one or added a fourth!
Something else I also use in talks is humour, and oddly this also often follows the ‘rule of three’. Comedians traditionally set up a punch line by using two elements to build expectation and then thwart this expectation with a twist. If presenters do the same and then deliver something surprising as the third element, they’ll get a reaction, and the message will be remembered.
Three is definitely the magic number and its effect is felt from the cradle. Can you imagine a fairytale where the hero was granted two wishes, and not three? It just wouldn’t sit right, would it? Now, we know why.
A Public speakers like this can take advantage of the Rule of Three in several ways. I recently had to give a presentation to my colleagues and, heeding advice, I focused on three main messages only, with three supporting points for each. It worked. Not a glazed look in the room!
B Going beyond this, with an additional fourth or fifth element could (according to those in the know) mean that such messages would be forgotten or ignored. Our brains have to work harder to remember more than three items and if there’s no real need, they won’t! Of course, if we have to process longer lists, we can, but it takes a lot of concentration.
C Apparently, there is an extremely good reason for this and it’s down to the way we group words, sentences or ideas into sets of three. This can have a powerful impact on multiple aspects of our lives including how we approach persuasion, how we react to storytelling and how we interact with others on a daily basis.
D An example was when I was recently talking about the introduction of closed-door offices. I phrased it thus: ‘These mean that employees benefit from increased privacy, better conditions for concentration and [pause for effect] the opportunity to shout as long and loudly at their PCs as they wish.’ I got my laughs and kept my audience’s attention!
E With this in mind, I decided to note down sets of three in advertising slogans that I encountered during my morning commute. In just one hour, I was exposed to a whole range of subtle techniques – on TV, on social media and on public transport. And without thinking, I’ve just done that very thing myself.
F It also affects drama. What is a traditional theatre play made up of? Three acts. In children’s fiction the hero often has to face three challenges or meets three animals and so on. Once you start looking you can find the power of three nearly everywhere.
G Thankfully without the same possible repercussions, going beyond three elements can also affect everyday conversations. People will listen to a list of events, and even anticipate a third component to complete the pattern. However, if we add more items, they are likely to interrupt. Or their eyes go vacant.
For this task: Answers with explanations :: Vocabulary