Sentence improvement — Replace the motion verb in ‘‘the huge rocket soared up from the launching pad’’ with the most precise aerospace collocation describing initial ascent from a pad.

Given data
With a thundering roar the huge rocket soared up from the launching pad.

Concept/Approach
For aircraft and rockets, the set phrase for the moment of leaving the pad/runway is ‘‘take off’’. ‘‘Soared up’’ is redundant and less technical.

Option analysis
flew up — Colloquial and imprecise.went upwards — Wordy and non-technical.took off — Exact aerospace term; concise and idiomatic.No improvement — Leaves a weaker verb choice.

Common pitfalls
Using poetic verbs where a precise phrasal verb is expected in technical narration.

Final Answer
took off