It may come as a shock to husbands fond of accusing their wives of fritteringthe family finances on shoes and handbags, but a study has found that women are in fact better at budgetingthan men.

　　一项研究发现，女性在花钱方面其实比男性更有计划，这可能会让那些总爱抱怨妻子爱买鞋买包的丈夫们感到吃惊。

　　Women keep track of their spending and are less likely to build up debts through loans and credit cards, according to new research.

　　这项最新调查表明，女性会记录自己的开支，而且因贷款和使用信用卡而背上债务的可能性较小。

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        Men are more prone to ignoring mounting debts and forgetting to pay bills, whereas women chip awayat credit card bills with regular repayments, the study found.

　　调查发现，男性往往不理会越来越多的积压债务，而且常忘记付账单，而女性则会按时支付信用卡的账单。

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       The survey of 3,000 Britons by Lovemoney.com found that men have an average debt of ￡2,176 on their credit cards compared to ￡1,987 for women. Men tend to spend their money on gadgets and rely on credit to cover the costs, it found.

　　这项由Lovemoney.com网站开展的、针对三千名英国人的调查发现，男性信用卡上的平均债务为2176英镑，而女性为1987英镑。另外，调查还发现，男性爱买配件、器具等一些小玩意，而且喜欢用信用卡支付。

　　A spokesman for the money management website said the findings gave the lie to accusations that women are irresponsible with their money.

　　该资金管理网站的一名发言人说，这些发现表明，认为女性花钱无度的说法是不符合实际的。

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       “For years, women have been thought of as the big spenders, splashing their cash on clothes,” he said.

　　他说：“多年以来，女性一直被认为花钱无节制，把很多钱花在买衣服上。”

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        “But it seems men are gaining their own reputation when it comes to managing their finances while women are learning how to handle their money.”

　　“但在理财方面，男性似乎更有一套，而女性仍在学习之中。”

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        A quarter of men admitted they often repay credit card bills late or forget them altogether, compared to 17 per cent of women who make the same mistake.

　　四分之一的男性坦称，他们经常拖延支付信用卡账单或干脆忘记支付，而相比之下，只有17%的女性会犯同样的错误。

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        Vocabulary:

　　fritter:to waste time or money on things that are not important 浪费（时间、金钱）；挥霍

　　budget:to be careful about the amount of money you spend; to plan to spend an amount of money for a particular purpose 谨慎花钱；把…编入预算

　　chip away:remove or withdraw gradually 逐步瓦解、消除