阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C或D）中，选出最佳选项
Canadian English is the variety of English
spoken in Canada. English, instead of French, is the first language, or “mother
tongue”， of approximately 24 million
Canadians (77%), and more than 28 million (86%) are fluent in the language.
Canadian English contains elements of
British English and American English in its vocabulary, as well as Canadian
native language. In many areas, speech is influenced by French, and there are
notable local variations. Canada has very little dialect diversity compared to
the United States. Canadian English and American English are sometimes
classified together as North American English. Canadian English spelling is
largely a combination of British and American conventions(惯例)．
The term “Canadian English” is first
proved in a speech by the Reverend A. Constable Geikie in a speech to the
Canadian Institute in 1857. Geikie, a Scottish-born Canadian, reflected the
Anglocentric attitude that would be common in Canada for the next hundred years
when he referred to the language as “a ruined dialect，” in comparison to what he considered the proper English spoken by
immigrants from Britain.
Canadian English is the product of four
waves of immigration and settlement over a period of almost two centuries. The
first large wave of long English-speaking settlement in Canada, and
linguistically the most important, was the arrival of Loyalists escaping from
the American Revolution, chiefly from the Mid-Atlantic states—as such, Canadian
English is believed by some scholars to have come from northern American
English. Recent studies suggest that Canadian English has been developing
features of its own since the early 19th century. The second wave from Britain
and Ireland was encouraged to settle in Canada after the War of 1812 by the
governors of Canada. Waves of immigration from around the globe peaking in 1910
and 1960 had a lesser influence.
