<p>Hi, guys! I got a 600 in my CR the first time and I want to get a 700+ next time. I find that what troubles me is that I can't fully understand what the articles say or just don't have enough time for CR. So in order to improve my reading ability, can someone recommend some good books or magazines that might be helpful in improving my reading ability?
Thanx!</p>
<p>TIME Magazine definitely helped me.</p>
<p>books: read slave time classics (at least, every cr portion I had included at least 3-4 excerpts from things like Frederick Douglass’ autobiography, etc.)</p>
<p>newspapers-highlight a max of a couple (or few) sentences/phrases that capture the essence of the article in question. This was my favorite prep.</p>
<p>Thanks! Maybe I’ll choose Time or others and analyze the articles fully…</p>
<p>A couple of months ago, I asked the very question that you’re asking. Doing extensive research and getting a lot of advice, the one magazine that truly is “most” similar to the SAT CR section passages is the Economist. It uses the same level of vocabulary and its articles are long. The Economist helped me a lot!!! </p>
<p>To get the full magazine, you have to pay: however, if you own an iPhone or an iPod Touch (and I believe, any other smart phone) you can get the App and read the editors highlights, that’s from 4-6 articles per magazine. It’s free and it’s … Very helpful.</p>
<p>Thank you for your recommendation! I am definitely going to get one!</p>
<p>A lot of articles from The Economist are on their website, too: [The</a> Economist - World News, Politics, Economics, Business & Finance](<a href=“http://www.economist.com/]The”>http://www.economist.com/)</p>
<p>One thing I fear about reading Economist ALONE is its topic is very focused on social science.
I really recommend exposing yourself to variety of reading materials, including books. Harper’s may be a little bit hard to read but it did good to my score ^^</p>
<p>I read a bit of The Economist, very very little NYT, did like 5 CR practice tests, and read a few pages of Volume 2 of Direct Hits. In the course of 1 month. Went from a 630->660 between May and June. Retook CR in November, zero additional prep. Got a 780. Make of that what you will. </p>
<p>The Economist is great, though, and I needed an up in those topics, since I never had any trouble with narratives and all those.</p>
<p>Wow! no additional prep and a 780, that is amazing. Thanx, and I really think I should read more.</p>
<p>I’ve been reading TIME Magazine for a few years and it definitely helped me. Plus, Joel Stein’s hilarious - the Awesome Column rocks! Another thing that TME really helps with is mental stamina because if you read the magazine cover to cover, you’ll come across articles that might not be that interesting to you in addition to ones that you’re drawn to, which will be the case on the SAT.</p>
<p>Definitely read lots of classics if you can - it’ll help you with vocab if you watch out for key words, and at the very least, will allow you gain different perspectives on life.</p>