This is a download from BBC Learning English.

To find out more, visit our website.

The English we speak.

From BBC learning English.

com. Hello and me Rob. Hello and welcome to the English we speak with me Faye Faye and me Rob.

So Rob I have a very simple question for you.

Yep.

Why have you got enormous whiskers glued to the side of your face and why are you wearing a running

vest?

Well Fay Faye Faye it's a new year and according to our Chinese friends it's the

year of the rat. New year, new resolutions. So I've decided to join the rat race.

You've decided to join the rat race. You've decided to join the rat race. You mean to get really competitive

at work and concentrate on promotions and pay rises at the expense of your free time. That's right. But why? Money? Right. Well, let's hear some examples of

this expression before a little more explanation.

I am going to quit the rat race.

I earn all this money, but I never have enough time to spend it.

It's just work work work.

People complain about the rat race, but if you earn enough, you can retire at 50.

Nieves decided to quit the rat race after she had a serious health scare.

She realized that the money wasn't worth the stress.

You're listening to the English we speak from BBC Learning English. In this

programme we're looking at the expression Rat Race. It's used to describe a way of

...