This could be automated by using text summarizing algorithms which pull out key sentences. Then, when you come across a long article, just shrink the screen to summarize.

OS X has a text summarizer, which my brother used to great effect in grad school. Most of his readings were digital, and he just ran them all through the summarizer. He had no trouble participating in class discussions, though occasionally a professor would look at him oddly and say "Well, that wasn't really the main point."