Chen Lei studied art history and the early {#blank#}1{#/blank#} of China in a university. He was able to recognize the {#blank#}2{#/blank#} of different cultural relics from former times, especially the Tang and Song dynasties. One day he was looking in a second-hand furniture shop when he saw an {#blank#}3{#/blank#} object among the many different vases and {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. It was a mirror {#blank#}5{#/blank#} in the Song Dynasty and {#blank#}6{#/blank#} in the {#blank#}7{#/blank#} style of that time. He recognized that it was a {#blank#}8{#/blank#} cultural relic, but at a price he could afford, so he bought it at once. Later he gave it to his local museum. The people there were very happy and without {#blank#}9{#/blank#} consider it one of the treasures of their collection. To them, it was {#blank#}10{#/blank#} much more than Chen Lei paid.

    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.