[单项选择]How did the Irish learn the English language in general
A. Through business activities.
B. Through cultural exchanges.
C. From English books.
D. From English colonists.

{{B}}How Did English Become a Global Language{{/B}}
The rise of English is a remarkable tale as Professor David Crystal reminds us in his attractive, short book English as a Global Language.
It is certainly quite a theme. When Julius Caesar landed in Britain more than 2,000 years ago, English did not exit. Five hundred years later, English, virtually incomprehensible to modem ears, was probably spoken by about as few people as currently speak Cherokee, the language of a small North American Indian tribe and with as little influence. About 1,000 years later, at the end of the 16th century, and after the Norman Conquest, the reformation and the arrival of commercial printing technology, English was the native speech of between 5 million and 7 million people. And yet now look at it. As the second millennium approaches, English is more widely scattered, more widely spoken and written than any other language has ever been