“This has many benefits” leaves the reader with a question: which benefits, and how do they arise? An essay becomes more convincing when you develop a reason instead of simply announcing that something is important.
The essay introduction in Jobin Thomas’s Ultimate PTE Writing Practice Book connects paragraph organisation with relevant explanations and examples. This guide turns that advice into an original paragraph-building exercise. The aim is to make your reasoning visible.
Start with a claim narrow enough to explain
“Libraries are good for society” is broad. “Later library opening can give people who work during the day access to a quiet study space” is more specific. It identifies a change, a group and a possible benefit.
A narrower claim gives the paragraph a direction. You can explain why daytime opening may be inconvenient for that group and show how a later session could help. You do not need to discuss every possible advantage of libraries.
Add the missing explanation
Ask “How?” or “Why?” after your main point. A quiet study space might help someone concentrate because their home is crowded. Extended hours may matter because the person cannot visit while working. Choose the explanation that directly supports your argument.
Original paragraph development
Point: Evening access can make a library more useful to working learners.
Explanation: People whose shifts overlap with daytime opening may otherwise have little opportunity to use its study facilities.
Illustration: For example, a learner finishing work at six could use a later session to prepare an assignment before returning to a crowded home.
Link: Extending access could therefore help the library serve people excluded by its usual hours.
This illustration describes a plausible situation. It does not claim that a research study measured the result or that every learner has the same needs.
Distinguish an illustration from evidence
A hypothetical example shows how a reason could work. A factual claim about a survey or study says that something was actually observed. Do not invent a university, percentage or research finding to make an illustration sound authoritative.
“A learner could…” honestly signals a possible case. “Research proves that 90% of learners…” requires a basis you may not have. Precise reasoning is more useful than a precise-looking number invented during practice.
Choose the more useful support
Main point: Recorded explanations can help learners review unfamiliar material.
Option A: “Everyone knows technology is the future.”
Option B: “For example, a learner could pause a difficult explanation, check a term and replay the section before moving on.”
Answer: Option B explains a mechanism that supports the point. Option A is a broad assertion and does not show how review becomes easier.
Check that the example supports this paragraph
An interesting example can still be irrelevant. If your paragraph concerns affordability, a case about social interaction may lead the argument elsewhere. Either connect it clearly to cost or save it for a paragraph with a different purpose.
Read the main point and the final sentence together. The paragraph should develop the original claim rather than end on an unrelated benefit. Remove details that make the illustration longer without making the reasoning clearer.
Use careful language for limited claims
Words such as “can,” “may” and “some” help express the limits of an argument when appropriate. They should reflect your meaning, not appear automatically in every sentence. A possible benefit is different from a guaranteed result for everyone.
For your next practice session, take one underdeveloped paragraph and add a reason, an illustration and a link back to the question. Then shorten any repetition. Compare how much clearer the argument becomes without adding an invented fact.
Explore PTE Writing — Course 3 for the course connected to this practice book. Use its writing tasks to practise developing relevant ideas, then review the reasoning as carefully as the grammar.
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PTE Writing — Course 3
Explore the complete course outline and related practice topics.
Source: 13 PTE Writing.epub, Jobins Training. Examples labelled original or illustrative were written for this article. Independent exam preparation; no affiliation with or endorsement by the examining body. Practice does not predict an official score.