Improve the bracketed part of the sentence to make it grammatically correct: On a holiday, Priya (prefers reading than going) for shopping with her friends.

Introduction / Context:
This question tests your understanding of how to use the verb "prefer" correctly in English when comparing two activities. Competitive exams often check whether candidates know the correct preposition and form of the verb that follows "prefer." The sentence talks about Priya and what she likes doing on a holiday, so we must choose the option that makes the sentence natural, grammatical, and idiomatic.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• The sentence is about Priya's choice on a holiday.
• The original bracketed part is "prefers reading than going."
• The comparison is between "reading" and "going for shopping."
• We must select the grammatically correct and most natural expression.

Concept / Approach:
In English, when we use "prefer" to compare two nouns or activities in the form of gerunds (verb plus ing), the standard pattern is "prefer A to B." That is, we use "to" rather than "than." For example, we say "I prefer tea to coffee" or "She prefers reading to watching television." The verb forms after "prefer" are usually gerunds when we talk about general preferences. Therefore, "reading" and "going" are both correct gerund forms, but the preposition must be "to."

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Identify the core structure. The sentence has "Priya prefers X than Y for shopping." Step 2: Recognise that "prefers reading than going" is ungrammatical because "than" does not collocate correctly with "prefer" in this pattern. Step 3: Recall the correct structure: "prefer A to B" when both A and B are nouns or gerunds. Step 4: Replace the bracketed part with "prefers reading to going," which follows the pattern "prefer gerund to gerund." Step 5: Check the full sentence: "On a holiday, Priya prefers reading to going for shopping." This now sounds natural and grammatically correct. If desired, "for shopping" could be rephrased as "shopping," but the test focuses only on the bracketed part.

Verification / Alternative check:
We can test the structure with other examples. For instance, "He prefers playing cricket to watching football" is correct, while "He prefers playing cricket than watching football" is incorrect. Similarly, "They prefer staying at home to going out" is correct, not "than going out." Applying the same logic here confirms that "prefers reading to going" is the appropriate replacement.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option A: "prefers reading rather going" is incorrect because "rather" needs "than" or should appear in the pattern "would rather do A than do B." As written, it is incomplete and ungrammatical. Option C: "preferred reading to go" is wrong because it changes the tense from present "prefers" to past "preferred" and also uses the bare infinitive "go" instead of a gerund "going," which breaks the parallel structure. Option D: "No improvement" is wrong because the original phrase "prefers reading than going" does not follow the standard "prefer A to B" rule and is grammatically faulty.

Common Pitfalls:
Many learners confuse "prefer" with comparative structures using "than" and try to say "prefer A than B." Another common error is mixing different patterns like "prefer A to B" and "would rather A than B." Remember that "prefer" normally takes "to," while "rather" in the phrase "would rather" goes with "than." Another pitfall is failing to keep parallel form; if the first item is a gerund, the second should also be a gerund for smooth and clear expression.

Final Answer:
The correct improvement is "prefers reading to going," so the right option is: prefers reading to going.