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阅读教学作为整个高中英语教学的重要组成部分，在英语教学中占据着重要的地位。一直以来，在高中英语教学中，无论从高中英语课程的设定、教材的选编、还是从高中教学中阅读课所占的课时比重等方面来看，阅读教学都占据重要的位置。下文是我为大家蒐集整理的关于的内容，欢迎大家阅读参考!

浅析高中英语阅读技巧

高中英语阅读的要求与初中有较大差别：文章词数增多，生词量增大，组篇方式复杂，文章资讯量较大，文章内容比较成人化，并具有一定的文化意识要求。阅读理解在高考中占据很大的比重，而且越来越注重能力的测试。因此，在高中英语学习中必须掌握最基本的三种阅读理解技巧：猜测词义、难句理解和语篇理解。

一、 猜测词义

《英语课程标准》六级阅读技能目标提出六级为高中最低目标：能利用上下文和句子结构猜测词义。猜词能力是英语阅读最基本的能力之一。高考阅读文章也允许出现2%-3%不注汉语的生词。因此，从高一起阅读文章中就铺设了适当比例的生词。碰到生词切勿惊慌，因为它们不是孤立存在的，也不是高深莫测的。只要抓住一定的线索就可以猜出，并加以理解。猜词有两个步骤：寻找线索和确定意义。线索多种多样，可依据构词法、定义解释、对比关系、因果关系和上下文暗示“顺藤摸瓜”。

1. 构词法

Shantzis believes his system could help recycled materials bee more costeffective.

初看起来，costeffective不得而知。细心观察，它是由cost和effective合成，effective是effect加字尾派生而来。既然“成本有效”，就是“划算的”。构词法线索在猜词中用得最多。2009年江苏高考阅读理解A篇中就有六个可以根据构词法猜测词义的生词：emotionally有感情地，originally原来， conditioning规定，consequently结果， sociable好交际的，respond反应。

2. 定义解释

Decision-thinking is not unlike poker...This card game has often been of considerable interest to people.

从解释的内容不难看出，poker是一种多人玩的、有趣的卡片游戏。由此猜测为“扑克”。另外还可以从发音来验证，“扑克”poker之音译。定义、解释形式多样，有定语从句、同位语、并列句，甚至用破折号引出补充说明，等等。

3. 对比关系

Thousands of people got stuck in lifts. But no one was afraid. We passed the time by telling stories.

数千人困在电梯中，应该情况不妙。But转折了人们的境况。其线索是对比转折。如果猜测为“受伤”、“窒息”、“沮丧”还不妥贴。根据下文“讲故事消磨时间”，应推断为“惊恐”。

4. 因果关系

The biggest power failure happened yesterday. All of our ice cream and frozen foods melted.

后一句承接前一句。前一句的情况导致后一句的结果。线索是因果关系。既然停电，冰淇淋、冰冻食品化冻是必然结果。猜测为“融化”。

5. 上下文暗示

We had lots of candles on the table and the waiters were carrying candles on their trays.

从上文得知静止的蜡烛放在餐桌上，侍者随身带着的蜡烛不会放在口袋里，不会放在头顶，而是放在端菜的“浅盘”中。

再看例项，猜出画线生词的含义，并说出线索依据：

1. Modern medicine began with the stethoscope, a medical tool used for listening to the movements of a person’s lungs and his heartbeats.

2. Though Tom’s face has been washed quite clean, his neck still remains grubby.

3. The river is so turbid that it is impossible to see the bottom even when it is shallow.

4. Most of fishes have slimy skins covered with scales, so it is difficult to get firm hold of them.

5. The passengers’ belongings on the train are stored in their holdalls, boxes, baskets and netbags.

1. 听诊器，定义解释;2. 肮脏，对比关系;3. 浑浊，因果关系;4. 滑溜的，鱼鳞，上下文暗示;5. 拥有物，行李包，网袋，构词法。

二、 难句理解

文章中的难句，犹如拦路虎，让你无法理解全篇，令人望而生畏。高考趋势之一就是难句增多，型别多变，不但测试考生的阅读技能，也测试考生的智力水平和心理素质。难句一般是长句、省略句和倒装句。

长句是一些并列句、复合句，或者有多种形式的定语、状语、插入语，或者伴有分隔、倒装、省略，盘根错节，令人眼花缭乱。其实，再长的句子，只要能抓住结构中的关键词，问题就迎刃而解了。结构中的关键词是指分句、意群的引导词或起始词。找到分句的引导词，就能发现各个分句的主谓语，最后用化整为零的办法，各个击破。抓住意群的起始词就能理清各个语法成分，以及它们之间的关系。请看例句：

Decision-thinking is not unlike poker―it often matters not only what you think, but also what others think you think and what you think they think you think.

此句含有29个单词，语法结构复杂。从概貌上看, 破折号前是一个简单句，破折号引出一个补充说明的句子。结构关键词是not only...but also, what, what, and what。抓住引导词后，再确定各个主谓语。由此分析得知，it是形式主语，真实主语是三个主语从句，三个主语从句由not only...but also和and 连线。在第二个主语从句中带有宾语从句，第三个主语从句中，也带有宾语从句，而且宾语从句又带宾语从句，重重叠叠。全句可直译为：作出决定的思维就像打扑克，不仅你所思考的问题常常是要紧的，而且其他人认为你所考虑的问题，和你思考其他人认为你所考虑的问题也常常是要紧的。

再看怎样抓住结构关键词，并将它们化整为零：

In particular, he showed that all games fall into two classes: there are what he called games of“perfect rmation”, games like chess where the players can’t hide anything or play tricks: they don’t win by chance, but by means of logic and skills.

这是一个44个单词的松散长句。首先要找到分句和意群的关键词：that, what, games, where, not...but，另外两个冒号，一个逗号在句中也很重要，它们都表示补充说明或者同位关系。理清基本结构后，可以将长句分解为以下六句：

1. In particular, he showed that all games fall into two classes.

2. There are games which he called games of perfect rmation.

3. The games are like chess.

4. In the games the players can’t hide anything or play tricks.

5. They don’t win by chance.

6. They win by means of logic and skills.

长句就是由这些简单的分句用结构连词串连而成，一旦将它们一一拆开，就化难为易，一目了然。

难句的另一形式是省略句和倒装句，而且这类难句在高考中出现得越来越多，越来越活。在理解省略句、倒装句时使用“恢复原状”法是非常有效的。请看江苏高考任务型阅读中的省略句：So, the munication begins with the self, as defined largely by others, and involves others, as defined largely by the self.

句中含两个as省略句，如果分析省去了什么，并将它们补全就不难理解。此句as后省去it is，全句意义为“按照别人所定义，交流开始于自身;按照自己所定义，交流也涉及别人”。再请看江苏高考另一篇中的倒装句：

Under this is bedrock through which water cannot percolate.

只要将主语和表语对调位置，即恢复原状就很容易理解，意为“水不能渗透的岩层就在这一层下面”。

三、 语篇理解

语篇理解主要有两层含义：文章的整体理解和文章的深层理解。整体理解即通过阅读把握文章的结构脉络，提取、分析主要资讯，归纳概括主旨大意。深层理解即获得字里行间的隐含资讯，准确领会生词和某些活用单词的特定意义，推理判断作者的言外之意。整体理解与深层理解是密不可分，相互依存的。要想很好地进行语篇理解，必须注意三点：

1. 第一遍快速阅读时，就要有意识地找出文章的主题句和段落的主题句，从而了解文章全貌，理清层次关系，把握文脉主线。大多数主题句是段落的起始句和结束句。

2. 第一遍快速阅读中碰到难词、难句时，可以再读一遍该句，抓住要领后再往下阅读。尽量不在第一遍阅读中留下“隐患”，也避免难句的理解偏差影响下文的阅读。

3. 在做题时，有必要再次扫读、搜寻相关资讯，并谨防被词句的表面意义所迷惑。要剔除与上下文和主题思路相违背的一些表面意义，搜寻到深层的隐含资讯。

请阅读以下例子，并完成有关题目：

Olaf Stapledon wrote a book called First and Last Men, in which he looked millions of years ahead. He told of different men and of strange civilizations文明, broken up by long“dark ages”in between. In his view, what is called the present time is no more than a moment in human history and we are just the First Men. In 2,000 million years from now there will be the Eighteenth or Last Men.

However, most of our ideas about the future are really very short-sighted. Perhaps we can see some possibilities for the next fifty years. But the next hundred?The next thousand?The next million?That’s much more difficult.

When men and women lived by hunting 50,000 years ago, how could they even begin to picture modern life?Yet to men of 50,000 years from now, we may seem as primitive原始的 in our ideas as the Stone-Age hunters do to us. Perhaps they will spend their days gollocking to make new spundels, or struggling with their ballalators through the cribe. These words, which I have just made up, have to stand for things and ideas that we simply can’t think of.

So why even bother to try imagining life far in the future?Here are two reasons. First, unless we remember how short our own lives are pared with the whole human history, we are likely to think our own interests are much more important than they really are. If we make the earth a poor place to live on because we are careless or greedy or quarrelsome, our grandchildren will not bother to think of excuses for us.

Second, by trying to escape from present interest and imagine life far in the future, we may arrive at quite fresh ideas that we can use ourselves. For example, if we imagine that in the future men may give up farming, we can think of trying it now. So set your imagination free when you think about the future.

第一遍快速阅读后，我们已知此文体裁为论说文，共五小节。第一小节介绍概貌。二、三小节是一个层次，讲现代人很难看得很远。四、五小节为一个层次，讲想象未来生活的原因。一至四小节的主题句都是第一句。第五小节有总结全文的作用，说明想象未来是为了珍惜现在，主题句是最后一句，此句也是全文的主题句。文章中虽然难句、难词较多，但脉络结构理清后，对捕捉细节和深层资讯很有帮助。

首先在主题思想和文脉主线的牵引下理解这些单词、短语：

1. picture modern life 描绘现代生活

2. short-sighted 目光短浅的

3. Stone-Age 石器时代

4. bother 麻烦

5. excuses 借口

再看字里行间暗藏着什么，寻求这种深层资讯至少要思考三点：

1. 文章主题

2. 作者主旨

3. 隐含细节

文章主题上文已经分析。作者主旨为：现代人必须极目远望，想象未来，认识自己在宇宙长河中的时间价值，从而负起当前的应尽之责。至于隐含细节，必须先抓住表层资讯，由表及里，抓住本质。例如：第一小节表面上是介绍一本书。其实，作者通过介绍这本书，提出自己的论点，展示了全文的话题，也初步表明思想观点：“现代”仅是历史长河中之一瞬，人类文明的方式因为“时间”的分隔而截然不同。把握这些隐含资讯对理解后面四个小节的详论细述有很大帮助。

有些隐含资讯必须根据题目要求再次扫读才能有针对性地搜寻出来。题目中的选项迷惑性往往很强，因此，要善于排除干扰，拨开迷雾。这时也要注意分析题目的设题型别和拟题手法。例如：

1. A particular mention made of Stapledon’s book in the opening paragraph _______.

A. serves as a description of human history

B. serves as an introduction to the discussion

C. shows a disagreement of views

D. shows the popularity of the book

通过第一遍快速阅读已经得知其段落大意，再进行扫读，以加深对语篇意义的理解，找出正确答案。先看A，虽然这一小节提到“人类历史”，但不是着重描述人类历史。再看C，表面资讯有different men, strange civilizations, 但真实内容却未说观点分歧。选项D干扰性很强。虽然作者赞同Stapledon的观点，并以此展开全文，但通篇都未提到此书是否深受人们欢迎。从语篇理解看，D仅是一个旁外的话题。再看B，表面资讯是开篇部分，应是“汇入”。隐含资讯须全篇理解，全文都是围绕第一小节的话题展开的讨论，表面资讯与隐含资讯一致。B为正确选项。

2. The text discusses men and women 50,000 years ago and 50,000 years from now in order to show that_______.

A. human history is extremely long

B. life has changed a great deal

C. it is a useless plan for the next 50 years

D. it is difficult to tell what will happen in the future

从表面词句上看，似乎读懂第三小节，就可以回答此题。其实不然，因为A、B、C三项本身都是成立的，而且迷惑性很强。再次扫读二、三小节便受启发，第三小节是第二小节意思的延伸，进一步阐述远望未来的困难之处，论古说今，举例印证，都说明之“难”。因此D才是正确答案。

3. Spundels and ballalators are used in the text to refer to_______.

A. tools used in farming B. ideas about modern life

C. unknown things in the future D. hunting skills in the Stone Age

从表面资讯看，虚构单词指工具，先排除B和D。再次扫读得知不是农具，排除A。C是一个比较保险的正确选项。它们是未来不可知的东西。

4. According to the writer of the text, imagining the future will_______.

A. serve the interests of the present and future generations

B. enable us to better understand human history

C. help us to improve farming

D. make life worth living

测试推理能力，推断作者主旨。此题较好地运用了干扰选项和“答非所问”的拟题手法。B、C、D本身都是成立的，文中确实提到“人类历史”、“认真耕作”和“生活意义”。作者主旨是由这些个体组合而成，其中心思想是由它们提炼、浓缩而来，即尽管展望未来困难重重，人们还是应该想象未来。既然“现代”仅是一瞬，何不在这段历史时期尽心尽责，何不珍惜、爱护如今的世界呢?初定A为正确答案。但A项本身又有干扰资讯。最后一小节出现escape from present interest，似乎A不能选。其实文中这一部分是说明“想象未来的同时暂且不谈目前的个人利益，这能提高思想境界”，寓意还是“想象未来”，并不是说“想象未来”与目前的利益无关。由此搜寻到文章的“画外音”――想象未来既有利于现代，又造福于未来。A为正确选项。

语篇理解是较高层次的理解，也是如今高考试题的趋向和要求。

阅读理解的技巧无论合理性程度有多高，只有在实践中才能得到掌握和完善。运用所学的技巧多阅读，多琢磨，必有提高。

<<<下页带来更多的

无论是身处学校还是步入社会，大家总免不了要接触或使用作文吧，作文根据体裁的不同可以分为记叙文、说明文、应用文、议论文。那么你知道一篇好的作文该怎么写吗？以下是我收集整理的话题英语作文7篇，仅供参考，大家一起来看看吧。

我想告诉你一些关于我的童年。当我六岁的时候，我是一个可爱的女孩！

一天，爸爸在河里看见了一些鱼，他问我：“为什么鱼只能活在水里？“我想了一下，我就给了他答案，”银行里有一些猫，“我爸爸听到那个时候就笑了。”。然后他说：“你是聪明的！“我很高兴听到这个。

也许你会说，“这是一个有趣的答案。”现在，我想，它是非常有趣的.。现在我很聪明。我的父母非常爱我。我很高兴能有这样的童年。

if you want to be healthy, you must have a healthy lifestyle. you should do exercise every day. you must go to bed early and get up early. and drink milk every day. you should not eat junk food and drink coffee. you must sleep nine hours every night.

you must try to eat lots of vegetables and drink milk every day. your healthy lifestyle helps you get good grades. good food and exercise help you to study better.

do you want to know how to keep in good healthy? let me tell you something about keeping healthy. you should exercise every day and have good eating habits. you should try to eat a lot of vegetables. you should eat fruits and drink milk every day.

you shouldn’t drink coffee. you shouldn’t eat too much junk food, like chocolate. good rest is also good for your health. so you should sleep nine hours every night. healthy lifestyle helps you to get good grades. good food and good rest help you to study better.

i hope you all have a healthy lifestyle.

I love eating ice-lolly, no matter in the hot summer or the cold winter. The feelings are so different eating ice-lolly in the two seasons. In summer, the weather is so hot that I don't want to eat anything, except for the ice-lolly. I often buy a lot of ice-lollies in the refrigerater and I usually eat ten bars a day. When the ice water flow into the throat, I feel my whole world is icy and I feel that I am rescured from the hot day. However, in the cold winter, it's so different. Eating ice-lolly in the cold winter will make you feel colder. When you eating, you would shake because of the coldness. It seems that you are frozen. But it's the exciting feeling I like.

不管冬天夏天，我都喜欢吃冰棒，这两个季节吃感觉很不一样。夏天的时候，天气非常热，除了冰棒，我没胃口吃其他东西。我经常买很多放在冰箱里，一天吃十根。当冰水从喉咙流过，我感觉整个世界都冰凉了，我从大热天里解放出来了。而在冬天时，感觉就不同了，大冬天吃冰棒让你感觉更冷了，好像整个人都冰冻了，但这种刺激的感觉正是我喜欢的。

Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a letter to the university president. You should write at least 120 words based on the outline given below in Chinese:

1. 学校教学应该注重学生学习方法的培养。

2. 学校应该丰富学生的校园生活

【范文】

A Letter to the University President

Dear Sir,

I am writing to put up some suggestions concerning our teaching and campus life.

As a sophomore from the Math Department, I am quite satisfied with the present condition of my university, but I like to say that there is still some room for improvement.

First, I believe that more attention should be paid to the guidance of our study methods. To some extent, university students are capable of studying by themselves, but more often than never, we find ourselves at a loss as to choose good books to read and appropriate topics for our research. It is clear that we need some advice from our teachers. If our teachers can lecture more on how to learn by yourself for us, especially for the freshmen, our skills will be further improved.

Second, more activities should be conducted to make our campus life more colorful. I m sorry to say that the present life on campus is quite boring. Every day we have classes, read in the library, or stay in the dormitory. Life here is routine. We need more meaningful activities organized to enrich our college life and enable us to study more efficiently.

Today is the lunar December eighth day - the laba festival. The laba festival in China has a long tradition and history, on this day drink the laba laba rice porridge, do is the most traditional people all over the country, is also the most pay attention to the customs.

At night, dad with red jujube, lotus seeds, beans, peanuts, black beans, wheat berry, lily, eight kinds of material such as rice stayed up the whole pot of delicious rice porridge.

Mom put porridge is good, in the table. I use the spoon gently drew a few times in a bowl, good let it cool faster. Then, scoop a spoonful of their mouth. Porridge boil rotten rotten, quickly melted in your mouth. I said to my father: "dad, you can endure to laba rice porridge is really nice." The father said, "you drink a bowl of laba porridge, you will happy auspicious." Listen to father said these words, I feel very warm and happiness.

It’s beyond reproach that we will come across all kinds of difficulties and challenges in our life time .Some will be subjected to frequent sadness .Some will lose their way to move on .Thus,only when we equip ourselves with hope and courage can we finally succeed in the uncertain future.

Forrest Gump showed so great courage in the movie that he touched me a lot . For one thing,no matter when and where Jenny got into trouble ,Forrest Gump would bring her out of it without thinking how dangerous the situation would be .Maybe we should all fell ashamed that we love ourselves more than we love love ,but Forrest showed great courage in love .For another,Forrest gump risked his life to save Bubba in the ’s courage that helped Forrest gain a series of honor after war .Forrest Gump is beautiful for his perseverance and touches others with his courage.

A person can’t do without courage in terms of love and friendship ,let alone life . A weak person may avoid the difficulties ,but a person with courage will face up to it head-on. Therefore,let’equip ourselves with great courage.

【参考译文】

我们一生中遇到各种困难和挑战是无可指责的，有些人会经常悲伤，有些人将失去前进的道路，只有当我们有希望和勇气时，我们才能在不确定的将来取得成功。

阿甘在电影中表现出如此大的勇气，他深深地打动了我。对于一件事，无论何时何地，詹妮陷入了麻烦，阿甘会带她出来不思考如何危险的情况会。也许我们都应该感到惭愧，我们爱自己比我们更爱的爱，但福雷斯特表现出了巨大的勇气的爱。另一方面，阿甘冒着生命危险去救Bubba在战争中，它的勇气使福雷斯特战争后获得一系列荣誉。阿甘是美丽的他的毅力和触动别人的勇气。

在爱情和友谊方面，一个人不能没有勇气，更不用说生活了。弱者可以逃避困难，但有勇气的人会勇敢地面对困难。因此，让我们以极大的勇气武装自己。

When we were children, we often say that I want to grow up, or I want to be an adult. As children, we cannot do many things, while after we grow up, we can. However, we often complain that I don’t want to grow up when we become adults actually.

当我们还是小孩子的时候，我们常说，我要长大，或者我想成为大人。作为孩子，有很多事情我们都不能做，但是长大后，却可以做。然而，当我们真的长大之后，我们却常常抱怨不想长大。

Firstly, growing up means more responsibilities. We should make a living by ourselves or we should support our parents when they can’t earn enough money to make a living. Secondly, after graduation, we need to work instead of accomplishing nothing. We should have a target and work for it, so we have pressure on jobs. After that, when we meet with the right person, we will get marry with him or her to build a family. That is to say, we have heavier burden because of our family. Building a family and keeping it harmonious is not easy. In a word, there are many problems waiting for us once we grow up.

首先，成长意味着更多的责任。我们要自己谋生，或者在我们父母无法养活自己的时候，要赡养父母。其次，大学毕业后，我们需要工作而不是什么都不做。我们应该有目标，并朝着它工作，因此我们有了工作的压力。之后，当我们会遇到合适的人，我们会和他或她结婚并一起建立一个家庭。也就是说，因为我们自己的家庭，我们的负担加重了。组建一个和谐的家庭并不容易。总之，一旦我们长大了就会有很多问题在等着我们。

Every coin has two sides. Grow up can also broaden our horizon, offer us an opportunity to know more about our world, love and protect the important person in our life. Don’t be afraid of growing up, just be a better person and enjoy our life.

每个硬币都有两面性。长大了可以拓宽我们的视野，使我们有更多的机会地了解我们的世界，爱和保护我们生命中重要的人。不要害怕长大，那只是让你成为一个更好的人，并享受生活。

Introduction to Iceland Iceland's stark, pristine scenery has been shaped by fire and ice: More than 200 volcanoes and numerous glaciers form the country's landscape. It's a frozen land that's always letting off steam. Its U-shaped valleys, jagged lava fields, monstrous icecaps, hot springs and geysers have carved a rugged, bizarre landscape you won't see anywhere else on Earth. But you don't need the fortitude of a Viking to enjoy Iceland. In fact, you can experience many of its extremes in relative comfort. During a recent trip, we swam outdoors in a naturally heated pool just yards/meters away from a glacier. Despite its relative isolation and untillable terrain, Iceland has one of the highest standards of living in the world (with sky-high prices to match). Tourists began to flock there in the 1990s, realizing that it's actually a destination in its own right rather than just a long layover on connecting Icelandair flights. Icelanders, like many islanders, are self-confident and reserved, but once you break the ice, so to speak, they are among the friendliest in the world. Of course, they, too, have their extremes. Although weeknights in Reykjavik, the capital city, are usually quite sedate, the wee hours during the weekends (particularly Friday nights) can get downright raucous as stylishly dressed young people observe a rowdy party-on-the-streets ritual known as the runtur, or circuit. Iceland, officially the Republic of Iceland (Icelandic: Ísland or Lýðveldið Ísland; IPA: [ˈliðvɛltɪð ˈislant]) is a European island nation in the northern Atlantic Ocean between Greenland, Norway, Scotland, Ireland, and the Faroe Islands. [2] Iceland has a history of habitation since about the year 874, when, according to Landnámabók, the Norwegian chieftain Ingólfur Arnarson became the first permanent Norwegian settler on the island. At least one slave, Náttfari, is documented to have settled in Iceland earlier after fleeing from his owner Gardar Svavarsson. For some reason Náttfari is usually not credited for having settled on the island first. Over the next centuries, people of Nordic and Gaelic origin settled in Iceland. Until the 20th century, the Icelandic population relied on fisheries and agriculture, and was from 1262 to 1944 a part of the Norwegian and later the Danish monarchies. Today, Iceland is a highly developed country, the world's fifth and second in terms of GDP per capita and human development respectively. It is also the fourth "happiest" nation in the world.[3] Iceland is a member of UN, NATO, EEA and OECD Location and Topography Iceland is located in the North Atlantic Ocean just south of the Arctic Circle, which passes through the small island of Grímsey off Iceland's northern coast, but not through mainland Iceland. Unlike neighbouring Greenland, Iceland is considered to be a part of Europe, not of North America, though geologically, the island belongs to both continents. Because of cultural, economic and linguistic similarities, Iceland in many contexts is also included in Scandinavia. It is the world's 18th largest island, and Europe's 2nd largest island following Great Britain. Approximately 11 percent of the island is glaciated.[4] Many fjords punctuate its 3,088 miles (4,970 km) long coastline, which is also where most towns are situated because the island's interior, the Highlands of Iceland, is a cold and uninhabitable combination of sands and mountains. The major towns are the capital Reykjavík, Keflavík, where the international airport is situated, and Akureyri. The island of Grímsey on the Arctic Circle contains the northernmost habitation of Iceland. [5] The only native land mammal when humans arrived was the arctic fox. It came to the island at the end of the ice age, walking over the frozen sea. There are no native reptiles or amphibians on the island. There are around 1,300 known species of insects in Iceland, which is rather low compared with other countries (there are about 925,000 known species in the world). During the last Ice Age almost all of the country was covered by permanent snow and glacier ice. This explains the low number of living species in Iceland. When humans arrived, birch forest and woodland probably covered 25-40% of Iceland’s land area. But soon the settlers started to remove the trees and forests to create fields and grazing land. During the early 20th century the forests were at their minimum and were almost wiped out of existence. The planting of new forests has increased the number of trees since, but this can not be compared with the original forests. Some of those planted forests have included new foreign species. Iceland has four national parks: Jökulsárgljúfur National Park, Skaftafell National Park, Snæfellsjökull National Park, and Þingvellir National Park.