英文早读第三篇，选自巴菲特年度信，友才翻译。
During the past year we have taken positions in two situations which have reached a size where we may expect to take some part in corporate decisions. One of these positions accounts for between 10% and 20% of the portfolio of the various partnerships and the other accounts for about 5%. Both of these will probably take in the neighborhood of three or five years of work but they presently appear to have potential for a high average annual rate of return with a minimum of risk. While not in the classification of work-outs, they have very little dependence on the general action of the stock market. Should the general market have a substantial rise, of course, I would expect this section of our portfolio to lag behind the action of the market.
在去年，有两次当我们有望实现可以参与运营决策的规模的情况时，我们就开仓了。一次占股比例可以到10%到20%，另一次大概是5%。他们俩也许都要在接下来三到五年的工作才实现，但是他们眼下就似乎就具有高年均回报率和低风险的潜能。同时他们不在套利类股票类中，他们和股市大盘只有很少的相关性。当然了额，如果股市大盘有大幅上涨，我也希望我们这些投资可以跟在大盘后面上涨。
Results for 1957
1957年的成果
In 1957 the three partnerships which we formed in 1956 did substantially better than the general market. At the beginning of the year, the Dow-Jones Industrials stood at 499 and at the end of the year it was at 435 for a loss of 64 points. If one had owned the Averages, he would received 22 points in dividends reducing the overall loss to 42 points or 8.470% for the year. This loss is roughly equivalent to what would have been achieved by investing in most investment funds and, to my knowledge, no investment fund invested in stocks showed a gain for the year.
在1957年，我们于1956年成立的三支合伙基金表现明显优于大盘。在年初，道琼斯工业指数在499点位，而在年末减少了64个点到435。如果持有这个平均指数，他将收到22个点的股息并损失44个点，一年减少8.47%。这些损失大约等于我们通过投资基本所盈利的，同时据我所知，没有投资股市的投资基金在这一年赚到钱。
All three of the 1956 partnerships show a gain during the year amounting to about 6.2%, 7.8% and 25% on year end 1956 net worth. Naturally a question is created as to the vastly superior performance of the last partnership, particularly in the mind of the partners of the first two. This performance emphasizes the importance of luck in the short run, particularly in regard to when funds are received. The third partnership was started the latest in 1956 when the market was at a lower level and when several securities were particularly attractive. Because of the availability of funds, large positions were taken in these issuse. Whereas the two partnerships formed earlier were already substantially invested so that they could only take relatively small positions in these issues.
所有3支1956年的合伙基金在今年都有盈利，相比于1956年底净值增长大约6.2%、7.8%和25%。很自然就会有一个问题，为什么最后一支合伙基金有极大的优秀表现，尤其是前两支基金的合伙人会这么想。这个表现强调了运气在短期表现的重要性，尤其考虑到这些资金是何时收到的。第3支合伙基金是在1956年底启动的，那时市场处于相对低位，同时几只股票尤其有吸引力。因为获得了资金，我们在这些股票获得了较大仓位。然而这两只成立较早的基金已经被大量投资了，因此他们在这些股票上只能建相对较小的仓位。
23.take position：采取立场；开仓；就位
24.take part in：参加；参与
25.dependence：依赖；相关性；依存
26.lag behind：落后于
27.dividend：股息；股利；红利
28.roughly：粗略；大约；凹凸不平的
29.equivalent：相等的；相值的
30.vastly：极大的；广大的；深远的
31.whereas： 然而；但是；鉴于
