ALEXANDRIA Mills, a soft-spoken 18-year-old from the United States, was crowned Miss World 2010 last night in Sanya, Hainan Province.

The tall blonde was a relative surprise winner after speculation focused on other contestants.

Second place went to Emma Wareus of Botswana and Adriana Vasini of Venezuela finished third. China's contestant, Tang Xiao, finished among the final five.

According to a brief biography on the Miss World website, Mills calls Louisville, Kentucky, her hometown and she recently graduated from high school. She would like to become a teacher.

"I've never met a stranger and enjoy meeting new people," she says in the bio.

For the final, she was wearing a shimmering ivory-colored dress slit up the leg.

Mills takes over the title from Kaiane Aldorino of Gibraltar, who was named Miss World 2009 at a ceremony in South Africa last December.

Women from more than 100 countries participated in the contest. This was the 60th Miss World Competition.

• province [´prɔvins] n.省；领域；范围 (初中英语单词)
• relative [´relətiv] a.有关系的 n.亲属 (初中英语单词)
• ceremony [´seriməni] n.典礼；礼仪；客气 (初中英语单词)
• contest [kən´test, ´kɔntest] v.争辩 n.争夺；竞赛 (初中英语单词)
• competition [,kɔmpi´tiʃən] n.比赛；竞争 (初中英语单词)
• speculation [,spekju´leiʃən] n.思索，推测；投机 (高中英语单词)
• kentucky [kən´tʌki] n.肯塔基 (高中英语单词)
• winner [´winə] n.胜利者，得奖者 (英语四级单词)
• biography [bai´ɔgrəfi] n.传记(文学) (英语四级单词)