When people talk about the future, we like to think that we will be able to drive out of our garages and take to the skies in our own personal flying car. The advantages are obvious. Some people predict this technology {#blank#}1{#/blank#} complete freedom of movement. We could fly at 480 kilometres per hour,{#blank#}2{#/blank#}traffic lights, busy roads and speeding tickets. However, some people point to the disadvantages of flying cars. They say that there are certain to be problems with traffic control. Another big problem is engine{#blank#}3{#/blank#}. What will happen if the car goes wrong? Also, if they become popular, there is {#blank#}4{#/blank#} to be another big problem: air traffic jam. So we may find flying cars {#blank#}5{#/blank#} with more than a few problems if they are to get off the ground!

    FLORENCE, Italy - Svetlana Cojochru feels hurt. The Moldovan has lived here seven years as a caregiver to Italian kids and elderly, but in order to stay she's had to prove her language skills by taking a test which requires her to write a postcard to a(n) {#blank#}1{#/blank#} friend and answer a fictional job ad.

    Italy is the latest Western European country trying to control a growing {#blank#}2{#/blank#} population by demanding language skills in exchange for work permits, or in some cases, {#blank#}3{#/blank#}.

    Some immigrant advocates worry that as hard {#blank#}4{#/blank#} times make it more difficult for natives to keep jobs, such measures will become more a {#blank#}5{#/blank#} for intolerance than integration. Others say it's only {#blank#}6{#/blank#} that newcomers learn the language of their host nation, seeing it as a condition to ensure they can contribute to society.

    Other European countries laid down a {#blank#}7{#/blank#} requirement for immigrants, and some terms are even tougher. The governments argue that this will help foreigners join the society and promote understanding across cultures.

    Italy, which has a much weaker tradition of immigration, has {#blank#}8{#/blank#} a sharp increase in immigration in recent years. In 1990, immigrant numbered some 1.14 million out of Italy's then 56.7 million people, or about 2 percent. At the start of this year, foreigners living in Italy {#blank#}9{#/blank#} to 4.56 million of a total population of 60.6 million, or 7.5 percent, with immigrants' children accounting for an even larger percentage of births in Italy.

    Cojochru, the Moldovan caregiver, hoped obtaining permanent {#blank#}10{#/blank#} would help her bring her two children to Italy; they live with her sister in Moldova, where salaries are among the lowest in Europe. She was skeptical that the language requirement would encourage integration.

    Italians always "see me as a foreigner," an outsider, even though she's stayed in the country for years and can speak the local language fluently, she said.