我喜欢游泳而不喜欢滑冰

I prefer to swim rather than skating.

我喜欢游泳而不喜欢滑冰。

I prefer to spend the weekend at home rather than go outside.

与到外面去玩比起来， 我更喜欢在家里度周末。

I prefer to live in England rather than go abroad.

我宁可住在英格兰，不想出国。或是译为：与出国对比，我宁可住在英格兰。

I prefer to see animals in their natural surroundings rather than in zoos.

我比较喜爱看见在环境下的小动物,而不是在小动物园里。

其实：prefer to do……rather than+do或doing都是正确用法：

I would prefer to spend the weekend at home rather than drive/driving all the way to your mother’s.

我宁愿在家里度周末，而不愿开车跑那么远的路去你母亲家度周末。

I would prefer to read a poorly-written book rather than read/reading a poorly-written review of it.

我宁愿读一本写得不好的书，而不愿读一篇写得不好的关于它的书评。

所以，上述句子里的rather than后的动词原形都可以改写为doing形式。

所以：prefer to do A rather than do B= prefer to do A rather than doing B

另外，在这个句型里，rather than引导的部分，也可以放在句首：

Rather than sit/sitting here waiting, I prefer to go to find out what on earth has happened.我宁愿去探个究竟，也不愿坐在这儿等待。

其正常语序句子为：

I prefer to go to find out what on earth has happened rather than sit /sitting here waiting.