Japan senior lawmaker Americans are simple-minded 日本資深議員說，美國人頭腦簡單

 ◎張沛元
A key figure in Japan’s ruling party dubbed Americans "simple-minded" in a speech to fellow lawmakers Wednesday.
日本執政黨一名要員週三在一場向同黨議員發表的演說中，稱美國人「頭腦簡單」。
It was not clear what prompted the remarks by Democratic Party heavyweight Ichiro Ozawa at a political seminar, in which he otherwise paid tribute to Americans’ commitment to democracy, saying it was something Japan should learn from.
目前並不清楚民主黨大老小澤一郎為何會在政治研討會上口出此言；此外他還在該會上向美國的民主使命感致敬，指稱此舉值得日本師法。
"I like Americans, but they are somewhat monocellular," the former Democratic Party leader said. "When I talk with Americans, I often wonder why they are so simple-minded."
「我喜歡美國人，但他們有點單細胞，」這名民主黨前黨魁說。「當我跟美國人談話時，我總搞不懂為什麼他們的頭腦會這麼簡單。」
Ozawa didn’t elaborate on what aspect of Americans made him compare them monocellular organisms, a term also used to mean shortsighted or dumb.
小澤並未詳述是美國人的哪個層面讓他覺得可將之比擬為單細胞有機體，該詞彙在日本也被用來形容短視或蠢笨。
"I don’t think Americans are very smart, but I give extremely high credit for democracy and choices by its people," he also said. "They chose a black president for the first time in U.S. history," adding that he thought once that would never be possible.
「我不認為美國人很聰明，但我相當推崇美國的民主與民治，」他還說。「他們選出了美國歷史上首位黑人總統，」他並補充說，他原本以為這件事永遠不可能發生。
新聞辭典
heavyweight：名詞，重量級拳擊手；重要人物。
pay tribute to someone or something：慣用語，向某人或某事致敬；公開認可某人或某事。例句：They will have a reception to pay tribute to the work of the charitable foundation.（他們將舉辦表揚會向那個慈善基金會的工作致敬。）
elaborate：動詞，詳述；形容詞，詳細的。例句：He was asked to elaborate on his proposal.（他被要求詳述他的提案。）