# Investment in shares versus investment in other assets - 科目：雅思阅读真题（Part 2） - 考频：高频 - 最近考试：2023.1.7 - 题目数：13 - 来源页：https://www.yaquan.site/paper/cca4e09d-8322-418d-8527-aaeddb57c96d（在线机考练习与音频请访问该页面） - 数据更新：2026-10-29 ## 题目原文 A How one university collected the data to try and answer this question It all began in 1958 with a phone call from Louis Engel, a banker at Merrill Lynch, a US-based financial management company, who wanted to know how investors in shares had performed relative to investors in other assets such as low risk investments with guaranteed returns. 'I don't know, but if you gave me $50,000 I could find out,' replied Jim Lorie, a dean at the University of Chicago's business school. Louis Engel soon agreed to provide the funding, and more. The result, in 1960, was the launch of the University's Center for Research in Security Prices. Half a century later CRSP (pronounced 'crisp') data are everywhere. They provided the foundation of at least one-third of all empirical research in finance over the past 40 years, according to a presentation at a symposium held this month. They probably influenced much of the rest. B Getting the CRSP data together was a tough process in what were then the early days of computers. Up to three million pieces of information on all the shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange between 1926 and 1960 were transferred from paper in the exchange's archive to magnetic tape. A lot of time was spent adjusting prices to take account of complexities in the market. Lorie and his co-researcher, Lawrence Fisher, chose January 1926 as the start date because they wanted the data to span at least one complete business cycle from boom to bust, or vice versa. C When these two economists published the first study based on the CRSP data in 1964, they reported that the annual compound return on the shares over the entire 35-year period was (depending on the tax status of the investor) between 6.8% and 9%. Acknowledging that good data on the performance of other assets were not available, the study claimed that the rate of return on shares was 'substantially higher than for alternative investment media, providing the first empirical support for the still popular idea that shares outperform other investments over the long run. Fisher and Lorie also observed that many people chose to invest in assets with lower returns because they were cautious by nature, and were concerned about the risk of loss inherent in investing in the stock market. Economists today call the amount of extra return that investors need to compensate them for this additional risk the 'equity risk premium', although they differ greatly on how big investors should expect it to be. D After Fisher and Lorie's 1964 report there was no stopping the love affair between financial economists and the data that studying these numbers produced. Myron Scholes, now a Nobel laureate, became director of CRSP in 1974, and ensured the database was both kept up to date and made readily available to academic economists everywhere. In turn, this resource became ever more useful as computing power became more affordable. The CRSP database has since been expanded to include a full range of different types of investments. It has been replicated across the world. E One of the earliest uses of CRSP data was by Eugene Fama, an economist at the University of Chicago, to support his "efficient-market hypothesis." He found that over a lengthy period share prices tended to rise and fall randomly, without showing much of a pattern. Markets are efficient, he said, because all relevant information is reflected in share prices at any given moment, meaning there are no predictable movements in prices for smart investors to exploit. Fama did concede that there was some evidence of temporary short-term predictability in share prices, however. That stipulation has resulted in a vast number of papers based on discovering such anomalies through data mining. In theory, such anomalies are potentially lucrative for investors, but as believers in efficient markets observe with satisfaction, it seems that no sooner are such anomalies discovered and reported in journals than they typically disappear. F However, the sheer volume of material means that financial economists are becoming increasingly specialized, which may have costs as well as benefits. Some economists worry that much of this statistical analysis is creating some interference that drowns out serious thinking about the big questions, such as why the financial system nearly collapsed in 2008 and how a repeat can be avoided. Robert Shiller, an economist at Yale University and a long-time sceptic about the efficient-market hypothesis, feels that with the creation of the CRSP database economists suddenly believed that finance had become scientific. According to Shiller, conventional ideas about investing and financial markets - and about their vulnerabilities - seemed out-of-date to the new empiricists. He worries that academic departments are full of economists who are so specialized in data analysis that they fail to see and understand the whole. They get a sense of authority from work that contains lots of data. G Scholes responds to this criticism with the contention that the usefulness of this empirical analysis is proven by the fact that demand for it continues to grow. At CRSP's 50th anniversary symposium, plans were unveiled to publish indicators on an expanding range of investments, as well as for growth and value stocks. These indicators, CRSP claims, will be more academically rigorous and cheaper than existing ones. For believers in the efficiency of markets, that should be enough to ensure CRSP's continuing success. ## 题目与答案 ### 14. 14 Paragraph A 14 Paragraph A - technological developments improve CRSP data - initial findings of the CRSP project - a request and a far-reaching result - difficulties in collecting CRSP data - what the future holds - too much data for people to have an overall understanding **答案**：a request and a far-reaching result 原文定位：It all began in 1958 with a phone call from Louis Engel, a banker at Merrill Lynch;who wanted to know how investors in shares had performed relative to investors in other assets such as low risk investments with guaranteed returns;Louis Engel soon agreed to provide the funding;The result, in 1960, was the launch of the University's Center for Research in Security Prices. Half a century later CRSP data are everywhere. They provided the foundation of at least one-third of all empirical research in finance over the past 40 years;They probably influenced much of the rest ### 15. 15 Paragraph B 15 Paragraph B - technological developments improve CRSP data - initial findings of the CRSP project - a request and a far-reaching result - difficulties in collecting CRSP data - what the future holds - too much data for people to have an overall understanding **答案**：difficulties in collecting CRSP data 原文定位：Getting the CRSP data together was a tough process in what were then the early days of computers ### 16. 16 Paragraph C 16 Paragraph C - technological developments improve CRSP data - initial findings of the CRSP project - a request and a far-reaching result - difficulties in collecting CRSP data - what the future holds - too much data for people to have an overall understanding **答案**：initial findings of the CRSP project 原文定位：they reported that the annual compound return on the shares over the entire 35-year period was (depending on the tax status of the investor) between 6.8% and 9%;the study claimed that the rate of return on shares was 'substantially higher than for alternative investment media, providing the first empirical support for the still popular idea that shares outperform other investments over the long run;Fisher and Lorie also observed that many people chose to invest in assets with lower returns because they were cautious by nature, and were concerned about the risk of loss inherent in investing in the stock market ### 17. 17 Paragraph D 17 Paragraph D - technological developments improve CRSP data - initial findings of the CRSP project - a request and a far-reaching result - difficulties in collecting CRSP data - what the future holds - too much data for people to have an overall understanding **答案**：technological developments improve CRSP data 原文定位：Myron Scholes;ensured the database was both kept up to date and made readily available to academic economists everywhere;In turn, this resource became ever more useful as computing power became more affordable;The CRSP database has since been expanded to include a full range of different types of investments. It has been replicated across the world ### 18. 18 Paragraph E 18 Paragraph E - technological developments improve CRSP data - initial findings of the CRSP project - a request and a far-reaching result - difficulties in collecting CRSP data - what the future holds - too much data for people to have an overall understanding **答案**：CRSP data not always being a useful basis for investment 原文定位：He found that over a lengthy period share prices tended to rise and fall randomly, without showing much of a pattern;meaning there are no predictable movements in prices for smart investors to exploit;Fama did concede that there was some evidence of temporary short-term predictability in share prices;In theory, such anomalies are potentially lucrative for investors, but;no sooner are such anomalies discovered and reported in journals than they typically disappear ### 19. 19 Paragraph F 19 Paragraph F - technological developments improve CRSP data - initial findings of the CRSP project - a request and a far-reaching result - difficulties in collecting CRSP data - what the future holds - too much data for people to have an overall understanding **答案**：too much data for people to have an overall understanding 原文定位：the sheer volume of material means that financial economists are becoming increasingly specialized, which may have costs as well as benefits;Some economists worry that much of this statistical analysis is creating some interference that drowns out serious thinking about the big questions;He worries that academic departments are full of economists who are so specialized in data analysis that they fail to see and understand the whole ### 20. 20 Paragraph G 20 Paragraph G - technological developments improve CRSP data - initial findings of the CRSP project - a request and a far-reaching result - difficulties in collecting CRSP data - what the future holds - too much data for people to have an overall understanding **答案**：what the future holds 原文定位：At CRSP's 50th anniversary symposium, plans were unveiled to publish indicators on an expanding range of investments, as well as for growth and value stocks;These indicators, CRSP claims, will be more academically rigorous and cheaper than existing ones;For believers in the efficiency of markets, that should be enough to ensure CRSP's continuing success ### 21. A traditional approach may have helped predict a financial downturn. A traditional approach may have helped predict a financial downturn. - Fischer and Lorie - Myron Scholes - Eugene Fama - Robert Shiller **答案**：Robert Shiller 原文定位：Robert Shiller;feels that with the creation of the CRSP database economists suddenly believed that finance had become scientific. According to Shiller, conventional ideas about investing and financial markets - and about their vulnerabilities - seemed out-of-date to the new empiricists. He worries that academic departments are full of economists who are so specialized in data analysis that they fail to see and understand the whole ### 22. Some people invest conservatively and as a result make less money. Some people invest conservatively and as a result make less money. - Fischer and Lorie - Myron Scholes - Eugene Fama - Robert Shiller **答案**：Fischer and Lorie 原文定位：Fisher and Lorie also observed that many people chose to invest in assets with lower returns because they were cautious by nature, and were concerned about the risk of loss inherent in investing in the stock market ### 23. It may be possible to predict short-term movements in share prices but not over the long term. It may be possible to predict short-term movements in share prices but not over the long term. - Fischer and Lorie - Myron Scholes - Eugene Fama - Robert Shiller **答案**：Eugene Fama 原文定位：He found that over a lengthy period share prices tended to rise and fall randomly, without showing much of a pattern;meaning there are no predictable movements in prices for smart investors to exploit. Fama did concede that there was some evidence of temporary short-term predictability in share prices, however ### 24. The Beginnings of CRSP 24 In 1958, a _____ working for a financial management company telephoned in Chicago to ask how well investments in shares performed in comparison to investments in low-risk assets. The Beginnings of CRSP 24 In 1958, a _____ working for a financial management company telephoned in Chicago to ask how well investments in shares performed in comparison to investments in low-risk assets. **答案**：banker 原文定位：It all began in 1958 with a phone call from Louis Engel, a banker at Merrill Lynch, a US-based financial management company, who wanted to know how investors in shares had performed relative to investors in other assets such as low risk investments with guaranteed returns ### 25. 25 Fischer offered to find out and as a result the University of Chicago's Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP) was launched. Compiling the CRSP data was difficult because _____ were still being developed 25 Fischer offered to find out and as a result the University of Chicago's Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP) was launched. Compiling the CRSP data was difficult because _____ were still being developed **答案**：computers 原文定位：Getting the CRSP data together was a tough process in what were then the early days of computers ### 26. 26 and information that had previously been on _____ needed to be put onto magnetic tape. 26 and information that had previously been on _____ needed to be put onto magnetic tape. **答案**：paper 原文定位：Up to three million pieces of information on all the shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange between 1926 and 1960 were transferred from paper in the exchange's archive to magnetic tape --- 以上内容由鸭圈雅思真题库（www.yaquan.site）提供，收录近期雅思考试真题回忆，支持在线机考模式免费练习。