整天忙着争名夺利的人像什么？元代散曲大家马致远说像蚂蚁、蜜蜂、苍蝇：“密匝匝蚁排兵，乱纷纷蜂酿蜜，急攘攘蝇争血。”这和英文 rat race一语意思上是差不多的。rat race直译是“耗子竞赛”，意译则是“无止境的竞争”、“疯狂的竞争”或“无情的竞争”。这成语出自美国。美国人习惯用 rat（鼠）字称呼卑鄙的人、叛徒或不参加罢工的人，例如：He is a real rat, He has betrayed his friends to protect himself. 他真卑鄙，为了保护自己出卖了朋友。由于利益的争夺常常使人变得下流，所以美国人就创造了rat race这个词。

例句：Now that he has opted out of the rat race,he finds life much more meaningful than he could previously imagine. 现在，他退出了社会上你争我夺的疯狂游戏，发觉生命比从前所能想像的有意义得多了。

例句：At the age of 60, my father was at last able to get out of the rat race in the city and buy a house in the quiet country side. 我父亲在60岁时终于得以摆脱城市中你争我夺的无情竞争，在僻静的乡下买了一幢房子。 
 
例句：Dad want to get out of the rat race and move back to his hometown. 父亲想离开无休无止的竞争，回到他的故乡。

例句：After Nigel left his academic post and went into business, it took him quite a while adjust to the rat race. 奈杰尔弃学从商后，过了很长时期才使他适应于那种竞争激烈的环境。

例句：This rat race is getting me down. 这种激烈竞争使我十分沮丧。

例句：Yeah. I really want to get out of the rat race. 没错，我真的想要远离这种你争我夺的生活。

例句：The next time you are stressed out by your rat race, spend a day doing absolutely nothing. 下次当你被竞争的压力压得喘不过气来时，空出一天时间，什么也不要做。

例句：He decide to get out of the rat race and buy a small farm. 他决定退出商业竞争而去买一个小农场。