VOA慢速英语:Test of Big Space Rocket Set for Late 2012

短语讲解：

1. An American space company says a powerful new rocket should be ready for a test launch by the end of next year.

be ready for 为…做好准备
例句：You had to be ready for any emergency.
你得随时预防不测。
by the end of 到…为止
例句：Let me know by the end of the week.
这个周末前给我回音。

2. So that is really, really humongous. It’s more payload capability than any vehicle in history, apart from the Saturn Five."

apart from撇开…来说(表示除…以外尚有)，此外
例句：Apart from some spelling mistakes, the composition is fairly good.
除了一些拼写错误, 这篇文章写得很不错。

3. So it could someday be used to carry astronauts and other travelers into space.

be used to +v. 被用来做…
例句：Zinc can be used to cover other metals to stop them rusting. 
锌可用来涂在其他金属表面以防锈。

4. Mr. Musk says the Falcon Heavy could also be used for missions like carrying a robotic lander to collect samples from Mars.

be used for + n./doing sth 被用来…
例句：A number of techniques may be used for this purpose. 
可以采用许多技术来达到这个目的。 

5. ELON MUSK: "It has so much capability, so much more capability than any other vehicle, that I think we can start to contemplate missions like a Mars sample return, which requires a tremendous amount of lift capability because you’ve got to send a lander to Mars that still has enough propellant to return to Earth."

a tremendous amount of 大量的
例句：In Nepal, kids do a tremendous amount of physical labor.
在尼泊尔，孩子们负担着沉重的体力活。