Institution: জাতীয় কবি কাজী নজরুল ইসলাম বিশ্ববিদ্যালয় (JKKNIU) Exam: ঘ ইউনিট || জাতীয় কবি কাজী নজরুল ইসলাম বিশ্ববিদ্যালয় || 2013
Topic: Preposition, Subject: English Grammar (ইংরেজি গ্রামার)

Best Answer Explained in Below-:

The sentence "Many prefer donating money -- distributing clothes" expresses a comparison between two actions: donating money and distributing clothes. The word "to" is the correct choice because it indicates a preference or comparison between two activities. When you say "prefer A to B," you are expressing that you favor activity A over activity B.

In this case, "donating money" is activity A and "distributing clothes" is activity B. Therefore, the complete sentence would read "Many prefer donating money to distributing clothes," which clearly conveys that many people favor the act of donating money rather than the act of distributing clothes.

The other options do not fit grammatically or contextually. "Than" is used for comparisons involving inequalities (e.g., "more than"), which does not apply here. "But" suggests contrast rather than preference, and "without" would imply the absence of action, which is irrelevant to the intent of expressing a preference. Thus, "to" is the most appropriate choice, successfully completing the comparison in the sentence.