smell a rat  

懷疑 

釋義: 'when someone suspect that something is wrong about a situation', we say he smells a rat.”

指某人懷疑或者察覺到了什么

I don't want to say he steals my book, but I really smell a rat. 

雖然我不想說他偷了我的書，但我確實覺得不對勁。

as poor as church mice

一貧如洗

釋義：be very poor

一貧如洗、窮得叮當響，不名一文

Some people are as poor as church mice, but they are happy. 

有些人窮得要命，可他們卻很快樂。

play a cat-and-mouse game  

欲擒故縱 

釋義: 'to play a cruel game with somebody in your power by changing your behaviour very often, so that they become nervous and do not know what to expect.'

玩兒貓戲耍老鼠的把戲，也就是中文里的“欲擒故縱”。

He thought the police were playing a cat-and-mouse game and waiting to trap him.

他認為警察是在欲擒故縱，等著抓他。

like rats deserting/leaving a sinking ship

老鼠棄沉船

釋義: 'leaving a place, organization, activity, etc. very quickly and in large numbers, because it is failing in some way.'

這句短語常常帶有諷刺意味，與中文里的“大難臨頭各自飛”有些相似。

Former friends have deserted the couple like rats leaving a sinking ship.

從前的朋友像老鼠棄沉船般離開了這對夫妻。

when the cat's away, the mice will play

貍貓不在，老鼠鬧債

釋義: 'people enjoy themselves more and behave with greater freedom when the person in charge of them is not there.'

也就是中國的那句老話：山中無老虎，猴子稱大王

the rat race

激烈競爭

釋義: 'a way of life in modern society, in which people compete with each other for power and money.'

現(xiàn)代社會中人們?yōu)榱藱嗔徒疱X而互相競爭的一種生活方式

He decided to get out of the rat race, and went to work on a farm.

他決定退出激烈競爭，然后去一個農(nóng)場工作。