单选题
The English language is the lingua franca (通用语言) of business to an extent not imaginable even a decade ago. Three-quarters of the world's mail, faxes and e-mails are in English. And each of those figures is growing. English is now the official language of a number of international companies. The EFTA organization has English as its official language despite the facts that none of its six member countries use it as a native language. The European Community (EC), by contrast, so complicates its affairs by using all nine official languages that 60% of its administration budget goes on translation and interpretation, despite the fact that most of its staff speak English or French. The first foreign language the Japanese learn is English. Every Japanese child who finishes secondary school will have had an average of eight years of English language instruction, for a total of 1,000 hours. There are over 700 English language training schools in Tokyo alone, as many as there are in all of England. A further 13,000 Japanese students undertake courses, many of which emphasize language as well as technical skills, in America. The shortage of Japanese managers who are able to speak other European languages is far greater, that is a major factor in attracting Japanese firms to Britain rather than anywhere else in the EC.
单选题
According to the author, the English language ______.