In the passage about the debate on a Uniform Civil Code, choose the most appropriate preposition to complete the phrase "___________ nearly eight decades, the women movement has discussed and debated the desirability and feasibility of a Uniform Civil Code".

Introduction / Context:
This question is taken from a cloze passage that discusses the long standing debate on a Uniform Civil Code and women rights. Cloze tests require the reader to choose words that fit both grammar and meaning in context. The phrase in focus is blank nearly eight decades, the women movement has discussed and debated the desirability and feasibility of a Uniform Civil Code. We must decide which preposition correctly introduces a period of time in this sentence.

Given Data / Assumptions:
- The partial sentence is: blank nearly eight decades, the movement has discussed and debated the issue. - The options available are About, Of, With, and For. - The passage is written in standard formal English. - The blank stands at the beginning of the sentence before an expression of duration.

Concept / Approach:
In English, the preposition for is commonly used to express duration, for example, for three years, for many weeks, for a long time. At the beginning of a sentence, For nearly eight decades works smoothly and tells us how long the movement has been engaged in the discussion. The other prepositions about, of, and with do not form a natural collocation with a pure time phrase at the start of a sentence in this way. Therefore, the correct preposition must be the one that fits normal patterns of duration expression.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Rewrite the structure with each option to test it: About nearly eight decades, the movement has discussed the issue. Step 2: Notice that About nearly eight decades sounds awkward and is not commonly used to mark duration in such a sentence. Step 3: Try Of nearly eight decades, the movement has discussed the issue. This also sounds incorrect, because of is not used this way before a time span. Step 4: Try With nearly eight decades, the movement has discussed the issue. This suggests accompaniment, not duration, and feels unnatural. Step 5: Try For nearly eight decades, the movement has discussed and debated the desirability and feasibility of a Uniform Civil Code. Step 6: Recognise that For nearly eight decades is a standard English pattern to indicate duration and smoothly leads into the rest of the sentence.

Verification / Alternative check:
To verify, we can compare with similar sentences: For several centuries, people have argued about this topic. For many years, reformers have demanded changes. In all such examples, for introduces the length of time. Replacing for with of, about, or with makes the sentences ungrammatical or very unnatural. Additionally, reading the entire passage, we see that the author is emphasising the long period of discussion by women activists. The natural way to stress this length is For nearly eight decades. Hence option D is clearly correct.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option A, About, can mean approximately, as in about eight decades, but the pattern About nearly eight decades at the start of this sentence is clumsy and not idiomatic for duration. Option B, Of, usually links a noun to another noun but does not lead a pure time expression in this way. Option C, With, expresses association or accompaniment and does not function as a marker of duration before a time span.

Common Pitfalls:
Some learners see the word nearly and are tempted to choose about, because the two words are close in meaning when indicating approximation. However, the preposition must also work grammatically before the phrase nearly eight decades. In exam passages, it is important to test options not only for meaning but also for common collocations. Remember that for is the default preposition for duration, especially with a phrase such as nearly eight decades, which is exactly what the author wishes to emphasise here.

Final Answer:
The correct answer is For.