命运的齿轮转动, 引发投资革命

什么会引发革命？在投资领域，最伟大的革命莫过于芝加哥大学的研究者们在20世纪60年代开启的变革。

双语精读

The accidental origins of investing revolution

投资革命的偶然起源

What prompts a revolution? When it comes to investing, no change has been as great as that which began with researchers at the University of Chicago in the 1960s. The transformation is the subject of "Tune Out the Noise", a documentary by Errol Morris, an Academy Award winner, which held its premiere in New York on March 6th.

什么会引发革命？在投资领域，最伟大的革命莫过于芝加哥大学的研究者们在20世纪60年代开启的变革。这场变革就是纪录片《屏蔽噪音》的主题，导演是奥斯卡奖得主埃罗尔·莫里斯，并于3月6日在纽约举行了首映。

His film includes interviews with academics and investors, such as Eugene Fama, Myron Scholes and David Booth, who took ideas about market efficiency and diversification from the textbook and put them into practice in the markets. This led to a surge in the use of data and a disciplined focus on costs, in turn providing the foundation for modern passive investing.

这部电影中有对多位学者和投资人的采访，例如尤金·法玛、迈伦·舒尔兹、大卫·布斯，他们从教科书中汲取了市场效率和多样化的理念，并将这些理念应用到市场实践中。这导致对数据的使用大幅增加，以及对成本的严格关注，进而为现代被动投资奠定了基础。

Mr Morris's film may, in theory, be about brilliant individuals, but its most powerful message is about the role played by chance. History, like markets, is affected by randomness, and luck brought together the right people at the right time.

理论上，莫里斯的这部电影可能是讲述杰出个人的，但它传递的最有力的信息是偶然性所扮演的角色。历史如同市场，受到随机性的影响，运气在恰当的时刻将合适的人聚集在一起。

Although Mr Fama, who would later win a Nobel prize for his work on asset pricing, completed a doctorate at Chicago in 1964, he almost never made it to the university.

虽然法玛（后来因其在资产定价方面的研究获得了诺贝尔奖）于1964年在芝加哥大学获得了博士学位，但他差点没能进入这所大学。

After completing an undergraduate education at Tufts University, he had to chase up his application to Chicago, discovering that it had never been received. On phoning the university, he reached the dean of students by chance, who told him about a scholarship for Tufts graduates, before offering it to him on the spot.

在塔夫茨大学完成本科学业后，他不得不催促芝加哥大学的申请进度，结果发现他的申请从未被收到。他刚给芝加哥大学打电话，就碰巧联系到了学务主任，主任向他介绍了给塔夫茨毕业生的一项奖学金，然后当场将奖学金给了他。

It was a similar story for Mr Scholes, another future Nobel laureate. In the summer of 1963 he started a job as a computer programmer despite scant expertise.

舒尔兹也是类似的情况，也是另一位未来的诺贝尔奖得主。1963年夏天，尽管专业知识不足，但他还是开始了一份计算机程序员的工作。

The six other programmers who were hired failed to show up for the job, leaving Mr Scholes alone to assist in the financial research of other academics. He took to the work, abandoning his plan to return to his family's book-publishing company, and was in time offered a place on the university's doctoral programme.

其他六名被聘用的程序员都未能到岗，只剩下舒尔兹一人去协助其他学者的金融研究。然后他开始喜欢上了这个工作，放弃了回到家里的图书出版公司的计划，并最终获得了芝加哥大学博士项目的录取资格。

Mr Booth, whose name now adorns Chicago's business school, and Rex Sinquefield, his business partner, put the academic ideas into practice by co-founding Dimensional Fund Advisors, a firm that today boasts $777 bn in assets under management.

布斯的名字如今已镌刻在芝加哥大学商学院的招牌上，他与商业伙伴雷克斯·辛克菲尔德携手将学术理念付诸实践，共同创立了德明信基金，这家公司如今管理着高达7770亿美元的资产。

In 1969 Mr Booth narrowly avoided being made to fight in the Vietnam war, when a lenient officer postponed his conscription since he planned to study for a PhD. Mr Sinquefield did serve in the armed forces during the war, but poor eyesight kept him from combat.

1969年，布斯险些被征召参加越南战争，因为他计划攻读博士学位，所以一位宽容的军官推迟了他的入伍。辛克菲尔德确实在越战期间在军队服役，但由于视力不佳，他未能参与战斗。

A few twists of fate-an unanswered phone call, a prickly recruiting officer, more diligent computer programmers or better eyesight-would have prevented some of the men from reaching Chicago. Without the confluence of thought, investing might look very different today, making the world much poorer.

如果命运发生一些转折，比如电话没有被接听、征兵军官很难缠、其他几个计算机程序员很勤奋，或者辛克菲尔德有更好的视力，那么其中一些人就无法来到芝加哥大学。如果没有思想的交汇，如今的投资可能会大不相同，世界也会因此变得更为贫穷。

词汇预习

重点讲解

The accidental origins of investing revolution

投资革命的偶然起源

prompt  v. 导致；促使

【例】His speech prompted an angry outburst from the crowd. 

他的讲话激起了人们的愤怒。

【搭配】prompt sb to do sth 导致某人做某事

【例】The incident prompted him to call a meeting of the staff. 

这一事件促使他召开了一次全体员工会议。

【近义词】cause  v. 导致；使发生

What prompts a revolution? When it comes to investing, no change has been as great as that which began with researchers at the University of Chicago in the 1960s. The transformation is the subject of “Tune Out the Noise”, a documentary by Errol Morris, an Academy Award winner, which held its premiere in New York on March 6th.

什么会引发革命？在投资领域，最伟大的革命莫过于芝加哥大学的研究者们在20世纪60年代开启的变革。这场变革就是纪录片《屏蔽噪音》的主题，导演是奥斯卡奖得主埃罗尔·莫里斯，并于3月6日在纽约举行了首映。

prompt  v. 导致；促使

【例】His speech prompted an angry outburst from the crowd. 

他的讲话激起了人们的愤怒。

【搭配】prompt sb to do sth 导致某人做某事

【例】The incident prompted him to call a meeting of the staff. 

这一事件促使他召开了一次全体员工会议。

【近义词】cause  v. 导致；使发生

His film includes interviews with academics and investors, such as Eugene Fama, Myron Scholes and David Booth, who took ideas about market efficiency and diversification from the textbook and put them into practice in the markets. This led to a surge in the use of data and a disciplined focus on costs, in turn providing the foundation for modern passive investing.

这部电影中有对多位学者和投资人的采访，例如尤金·法玛、迈伦·舒尔兹、大卫·布斯，他们从教科书中汲取了市场效率和多样化的理念，并将这些理念应用到市场实践中。这导致对数据的使用大幅增加，以及对成本的严格关注，进而为现代被动投资奠定了基础。

disciplined  adj. 有纪律的；严格的

【例】a disciplined army 纪律严明的军队

a disciplined approach to work 严格的工作态度

【拓展】discipline  v. 训练；管教；严格要求

【例】to discipline yourself 自律；自我约束

Mr Morris’s film may, in theory, be about brilliant individuals, but its most powerful message is about the role played by chance. History, like markets, is affected by randomness, and luck brought together the right people at the right time.

理论上，莫里斯的这部电影可能是讲述杰出个人的，但它传递的最有力的信息是偶然性所扮演的角色。历史如同市场，受到随机性的影响，运气在恰当的时刻将合适的人聚集在一起。

randomness  n. 随机性；不确定性

【例】There is always some randomness in the outcome of the game.

游戏的结果总是存在一些随机性。

【拓展】random  adj. 随机的

randomly  adv. 随机地

at random  随机地；随意地

【近义词】accident  n. 偶然的事

accidental  adj. 偶然的

accidentally  adv. 偶然地

by accident  偶然地

Although Mr Fama, who would later win a Nobel prize for his work on asset pricing, completed a doctorate at Chicago in 1964, he almost never made it to the university.

虽然法玛（后来因其在资产定价方面的研究获得了诺贝尔奖）于1964年在芝加哥大学获得了博士学位，但他差点没能进入这所大学。

chase up sth/sb  催促；催办

【例】Can you chase up those reports for me?

你能帮我催一下那些报告吗？（把报告快点给我）

His landlord had to chase him up for his rent.

他的房东不得不去催他交房租。

【拓展】chase  v. 追逐；追赶

on the spot 

1. 当场

【例】He closed a deal on the spot.

他当场就签下一单。

2. 到达现场；在现场

【例】An ambulance was on the spot within minutes. 

几分钟之内，一辆救护车便赶到现场。

After completing an undergraduate education at Tufts University, he had to chase up his application to Chicago, discovering that it had never been received. On phoning the university, he reached the dean of students by chance, who told him about a scholarship for Tufts graduates, before offering it to him on the spot.

在塔夫茨大学完成本科学业后，他不得不催促芝加哥大学的申请进度，结果发现他的申请从未被收到。他刚给芝加哥大学打电话，就碰巧联系到了学务主任，主任向他介绍了给塔夫茨毕业生的一项奖学金，然后当场将奖学金给了他。

chase up sth/sb  催促；催办

【例】Can you chase up those reports for me?

你能帮我催一下那些报告吗？（把报告快点给我）

His landlord had to chase him up for his rent.

他的房东不得不去催他交房租。

【拓展】chase  v. 追逐；追赶

on the spot 

1. 当场

【例】He closed a deal on the spot.

他当场就签下一单。

2. 到达现场；在现场

【例】An ambulance was on the spot within minutes. 

几分钟之内，一辆救护车便赶到现场。

It was a similar story for Mr Scholes, another future Nobel laureate. In the summer of 1963 he started a job as a computer programmer despite scant expertise.

舒尔兹也是类似的情况，也是另一位未来的诺贝尔奖得主。1963年夏天，尽管专业知识不足，但他还是开始了一份计算机程序员的工作。

take to sth/sb  开始喜欢；逐渐有兴趣

【例】We took to our new neighbors very quickly.

我们很快就对新邻居产生了好感。

She has taken to climbing mountains.

她开始喜欢上了爬山。

The six other programmers who were hired failed to show up for the job, leaving Mr Scholes alone to assist in the financial research of other academics. He took to the work, abandoning his plan to return to his family’s book-publishing company, and was in time offered a place on the university’s doctoral programme.

其他六名被聘用的程序员都未能到岗，只剩下舒尔兹一人去协助其他学者的金融研究。然后他开始喜欢上了这个工作，放弃了回到家里的图书出版公司的计划，并最终获得了芝加哥大学博士项目的录取资格。

take to sth/sb  开始喜欢；逐渐有兴趣

【例】We took to our new neighbors very quickly.

我们很快就对新邻居产生了好感。

She has taken to climbing mountains.

她开始喜欢上了爬山。

Mr Booth, whose name now adorns Chicago’s business school, and Rex Sinquefield, his business partner, put the academic ideas into practice by co-founding Dimensional Fund Advisors, a firm that today boasts $777 bn in assets under management.

布斯的名字如今已镌刻在芝加哥大学商学院的招牌上，他与商业伙伴雷克斯·辛克菲尔德携手将学术理念付诸实践，共同创立了德明信基金，这家公司如今管理着高达7770亿美元的资产。

narrowly  adv. 差一点；以毫厘之差

【例】The car narrowly missed a cyclist. 

汽车差点儿撞上一位骑自行车的人。

She narrowly escaped injury. 

她险些受伤了。

【拓展】narrow  adj. 勉强的；差距小的

【例】a narrow victory 险胜

a narrow escape 险些逃过一劫

In 1969 Mr Booth narrowly avoided being made to fight in the Vietnam war, when a lenient officer postponed his conscription since he planned to study for a PhD. Mr Sinquefield did serve in the armed forces during the war, but poor eyesight kept him from combat.

1969年，布斯险些被征召参加越南战争，因为他计划攻读博士学位，所以一位宽容的军官推迟了他的入伍。辛克菲尔德确实在越战期间在军队服役，但由于视力不佳，他未能参与战斗。

narrowly  adv. 差一点；以毫厘之差

【例】The car narrowly missed a cyclist. 

汽车差点儿撞上一位骑自行车的人。

She narrowly escaped injury. 

她险些受伤了。

【拓展】narrow  adj. 勉强的；差距小的

【例】a narrow victory 险胜

a narrow escape 险些逃过一劫

A few twists of fate—an unanswered phone call, a prickly recruiting officer, more diligent computer programmers or better eyesight—would have prevented some of the men from reaching Chicago. Without the confluence of thought, investing might look very different today, making the world much poorer.

如果命运发生一些转折，比如电话没有被接听、征兵军官很难缠、其他几个计算机程序员很勤奋，或者辛克菲尔德有更好的视力，那么其中一些人就无法来到芝加哥大学。如果没有思想的交汇，如今的投资可能会大不相同，世界也会因此变得更为贫穷。

twist  n. 转折；变数

【例】the twists and turns of his career

他的职业生涯中的一波三折

The story has taken another twist. 

故事情节再次发生转折。

to add a twist to the case

让案件发生变数

课后练习

• What is the most powerful message sent by “Tune Out the Noise”?

  A. The great achievements of outstanding academics and investors.
  B. The importance of using data and focusing on costs in investing.
  C. The necessity of collaboration in starting a major revolution.
  D. The significant role that chance plays in history and markets.

• How did Fama get admitted to the University of Chicago?

  A. He applied after graduating from Tufts University and was duly admitted.
  B. He reached the dean of students by chance and was offered a scholarship.
  C. His work on asset pricing impressed the admission officers, so he was admitted.
  D. He was recommended by his professors at Tufts University and thus got admitted.

• How did Scholes decide to study in the University of Chicago?

  A. He couldn’t find a job because of scant expertise and decided to study.
  B. He had rich experience in computer programming and was offered a scholarship.
  C. He got interested in the financial research by accident and later went to Chicago.
  D. His family's company went bankrupt, so he accepted the offer from the university.

• According to the author, what would have happened if Booth and Sinquefield had fought in the Vietnam war?

  A. The revolution in investment theories might not have emerged.
  B. They might have experienced different and still wonderful lives.
  C. They would have still founded Dimensional Fund Advisors after the war.
  D. The overall development of the investment field would not have been affected.