Hi madu410,

In RC passages, you don't have to understand everything to answer the questions. In fact, you can essentially ignore all of the "big words", scientific vocabulary, etc. and still get all of the accompanying questions corrects. Unfortunately, you're not necessarily going to gain this skill by reading articles (since articles won't necessarily follow the patterns/style/intent of GMAT RC passages). RC requires proper note-taking, an understanding of "what matters and what doesn't", knowledge of the question types and the patterns behind the wrong answers.

It sounds like the bigger issue is one that you've identified: you don't have enough time to study. The good news is that the GMAT is standardized, so you can learn the proper tactics, practice and then beat the test. If you can't do the necessary work though, then you're not likely to "shortcut" your way to a 700.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Hi madu410,

"Nothing" made sense? None of the words? NONE? The GMAT can throw you a crazy passage or two on Test Day (maybe it's the content, the style or the length), but if you think that nothing makes sense, then you're not trying very hard. In those situations, you're rarely required to understand the details, so put your energy into figuring out the purpose behind each paragraph and the purpose of the prompt as a whole.

Try this: Take a "tough" passage and draw a line through every word that you don't understand. Next, read the words that are left. I'll bet that you can still understand a big chunk of the passage and you'll be able to get at least half of the questions correct.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

I agree with Rich in that GMAT RC is not a test of your vocabulary. That said, if you're looking for interesting, GMAT-like content, here some suggestions.

For Science passages, try:
- New Scientist
- Nature
- National Geographic
- Popular Mechanics
- Scientific American

For Humanities/Social Sciences, try:
- Washington Post
- New York Times
- Guardian
- Atlantic Monthly
- The New Yorker

And for Business, try:
- Fast Company
- Newsweek Business
- The Harvard Business Review
- BusinessWeek
- Economist
- Financial Times

Cheers,
Brent