THE THIRD MONTH OF THE SCHOOL YEAR has now arrived. Have you noticed that when we talk about numbers, we naturally think of the number three?
In some ways, "three" is a number that has magical powers. You might have found that this number is all around us. Everything has a beginning, a middle, and an end, For example, we eat three meals a day. Traffic lights all over the world use three colors: red, yellow, and green. And there is the rule of thee. It is an age-old writing skill. According to this rule, things can always become more satisfying to readers if they come in threes. Have you ever noticed how powerful ads use the rule of three to improve their marketing? Just do it. I'm loving it. Coke is it. These famous slogans(标语) are all three words long.
But what is it about the number three that makes it so magical? Well, it is because our brains enjoy thinking in patterns (规律). If there are no patterns, our brains will create them. And three is the smallest number needed to form a pattern. An audience member will usually only remember three things from a speech. Do you want something in your speech to keep in your audience's minds? Put it forward to them in groups of three.
If we properly use the rule of three in our daily lives, we can make many things easier. For example, many people like to add lots of tasks to their to-do lists. Experts, however, suggest they should just make three tasks. These top three tasks should be hard enough to be challenging while still being achievable. And the next time you are making New Year's resolutions, consider listing only three things to work on. The longer your list is, the less likely you are to keep it!
