The best strategy for reading difficult articles, especially from unfamiliar disciplines is this: 

First form an idea of what the author tries to do in the paper (e.g., defend a claim, propose a theory, argue for an explanation, offer empirical data).

Then shape a one-or-two sentence summary of what that claim, theory, explanation, etc. is.   Write that summary down for yourself.

Both of these things can be done without understanding every sentence of the paper.  But you will need to grasp some of the key terms that the author uses. You will greatly help your understanding of these technical terms by looking them up in one or all of the following resources:

Google: www.google.com. In the search box, type define: [term]

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page In the search box, type the term of interest

Cognitive Science Dictionary: http://www.bcp.psych.ualberta.ca/%7emike/Pearl_Street/Dictionary/dictionary.html

Glossary of terms: http://cogsci.uwaterloo.ca/courses/Phil256/glossary.htm

Finally, (and perhaps after lecture or after reading the lecture handout) you can contextualize the paper, understand some of the technical jargon even better, and go into details about what the authors is saying (sort of paragraph by paragraph).