<p>To improve my reading and writing skills, I'm trying to read the Economist weekly. I understand less than 40% of the whole magazine, not because its reading level is too high for me, but simply because my background knowledge and understanding in politics and economics are seriously lacking (I did extremely badly on social studies courses in high school). My unfamiliarity in areas of politics and economics greatly decreases my reading speed, making it hard for me to finish the magazine only in a week.
But when some science-related stuffs appear, I feel much less lost and my reading speed goes up dramatically. The problem is that amount of science-related stuffs in the magazine is very small compared to that of political and economical stuffs.
What can I do to eliminate my political and economical ignorance and illiteracy so that my reading the Economist will be less difficult, frustrating, and time-consuming, but more productive, worthwhile, and less-time consuming? I envy people who can actually "enjoy" reading this magazine weekly.
Please don't tell me to switch to another type of magazine. Doing so will forever make me blind to politics and economics.</p>
<p>Aw, this is adorable. Perhaps you can read NY Times daily (I prefer the paper version, but you can certainly access the most important articles online). I'm an avid reader of both, and I find that the analyses in The Economist supplement the news coverage in the Times, though the subject of the stories don't always overlap.</p>
<p>I admit that some articles are just flat out boring, but I still enjoy the overall feeling I get after reading The Economist. Reader's high. For some variation, I turn to The Atlantic Monthly and The New Yorker.</p>
<p>forget the new york times....they have screwed up in the past (self admitted even!) and lets face it - by the time the story has been written down, edited, sent to factory, printed, and delivered it is either obsolete or already everywhere else</p>
<p>browse: BBC News, Al Jazeera, Wall Street Journal daily (the websites, WSJ paper is one that is worthwile unlike the NYT)</p>
<p>you can exchange BBC News with CNN or the like....and perhaps add Fox News or Sky News. If you do this you should be informed enough (I generally do)</p>
<p>reading one paper edition paper and nothing else is quite the poor path to head down IMO</p>
<p>P.S. Some people have a problem with al jazeera......and that's too darn bad - it is a good resource and often times is quicker to post certain events then some other outlets, not to mention it adds a different perspective</p>
<p>It sounds like you are a science major. Perhaps it might be more enjoyable for you to read a journal like Nature or Science. Of course if you are specifically trying to overcome your weakness in politics and economics, maybe that's not such a good idea.</p>
<p>My point though is that there are a lot of resources covering numerous topics that are at a high level, and should improve your reading ability and your critical thinking...</p>