By Matt McGrath, BBC science reporter

媒體英語(yǔ)會(huì)帶大家一起學(xué)習(xí)BBC撰稿人在報(bào)道世界大事時(shí)常用到的單詞和短語(yǔ)。

Backgound: 中國(guó)西安交通大學(xué)的一位博士生和合作研究人員稱他們已經(jīng)找到了讓丟棄的香煙頭變廢為寶的新奇途徑。 他們發(fā)現(xiàn)從煙頭過(guò)濾嘴中提取的化學(xué)物能夠保護(hù)鋼管不被腐蝕。這項(xiàng)研究已經(jīng)發(fā)表在美國(guó)的某化學(xué)學(xué)會(huì)期刊上，它有望讓回收香煙頭成為一件具有經(jīng)濟(jì)前景的事情。

On pavements, nature trails and especially on beaches, wherever you find people on this planet you inevitably find cigarette butts: around 4.5 trillion of these ugly remnants find their way into the environment every year. Capable of surviving up to fifteen years in the sea, butts contain chemicals that are fatally toxic to many forms of fish.

Now researchers in China say they have found a novel use for these chemicals that could make the recycling of cigarette butts financially worthwhile.

The scientists found that by immersing the butts in water they were able to extract nine different chemical compounds including nicotine. When these extracts were applied to a type of steel widely used in the oil industry they were found to be very effective in preventing corrosion even under harsh conditions. The replacement of rusting steel pipes is a major ongoing cost for oil producers around the world.

China itself has no shortage of cigarette butts for scientists to experiment with: one third of the world's cigarettes are consumed there.