Question

Those soldiers preferred__________ (punish)to ________(go) to the front.

Answer 1

prefer sth.A to sth.B
与其B，更希望A
这里是与其上前线，宁愿受罚
用doing动名词
These soldiers preferred being punished to going to the front

Answer 2

英语表达宁愿做...而不做...的固定用法：preffer doing sth to do sth..这两个sth是不同的事
punish是惩罚的意思。士兵是受罚，所以应该用被动语态，第一空填：being punished
第二空填go

Answer 3

Those soldiers preferred punishing to going to the front.