争入名校的“幼儿竞赛”

中国的家长们为了让孩子有个好前途，从小就让他们上早教、上辅导班，甚至他们还没出生就着手买学区房。而英美的家长们为了让孩子进入名牌大学读书，更是不遗余力地让他们加入“幼儿竞赛”。

Rug-rat race refers to the intense pressure put on children to achieve early educational success, particularly as a prerequisite for eventually getting into an elite university. 
“幼儿竞赛”指的是为了实现早期教育的成功而给孩子带来的紧张压力，特别是将这种成功作为最终考进名牌大学的首要条件。

Rug rat是俚语，指幼儿，在地上爬来爬去的宝宝，像不像“地毯老鼠”？而rat race指激烈的竞争，这个用法就是这样组合而来的。

This striving is necessarily, and worryingly, inegalitarian. Parental investment in children’s education is an arms race in which poorer families cannot hope to keep pace. Richer, better-educated families can call on many more assets in helping struggling students or providing enriching résumé-building material. 
这种努力是必要的，让人焦虑的，也是不均等的。父母花在孩子教育上的投资就像军备竞赛，贫困家庭无力承担。富有的、教育水平更高的家庭可以提供更多资源帮助奋斗中的学生，或者给他们提供丰富的简历材料。

The more the rug-rat race leads parents to withdraw their children from public-school systems, the worse this trend becomes.
“幼儿竞赛”导致很多家长让孩子读私立，这种情况越多，趋势就越糟。

Increased scarcity of college slots appears to have induced heightened rivalry among parents, taking the form of more hours spent on college preparatory activities. In other words, the rise in childcare time resulted from a “rug rat race” for admission to good colleges. 
大学学位越来越不足，这似乎加剧了父母间的竞争，他们花在大学预科准备活动上的时间更多了。也就是说，为了进入名牌大学而进行的“幼儿竞赛”导致家长们花更多时间照料孩子。

A lot of British children aren’t in this rug-rat race. Children enter schools at age 5, when compulsory schooling starts. More than 90% of children in Britain attend schools that are run by the state and don’t charge tuition. 
很多英国孩子并没有参与“幼儿竞赛”。孩子们在5岁开始上学，参加义务教育。超过90%的英国孩子就读于公立学校，不需缴纳学费。