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Western titles and terms of address
In the west，especially in Britain，status titles are associated with class distinctions――Lord Apley，Earl Bernard（‘Count ’is used in Western European countries）．The British upper class families usually have titles，such as Duke1），Marquis2），Earl3），Viscount4）and Baron5）．In the U．S．，however，class differences are minimized and Americans do not have those titles．Instead，they use occupational titles，which denote a recognition that has been earned，not merely inherited．
Occupations which most frequently carry titles include：diplomats，members of the Congress and the Senate，Judges of the courts，military6） officers，medical doctors，ranking professors，priests，rabbis，and some Protestant clergy．
Examples would be：Ambassador Jones，Senator Smith，Governor Rockefeller，Judge Harley，General Clark，Dr．Brown（medical），Dr．Green（Ph．D．），Father White，Rabbi Cohen，Bishop Gray and etc．
Generally speaking，men in all other occupations are addressed as“Mister”，women as“Ms ”．“Sir”and“Ma ‘am”（Madam）are more respectful terms of address．In Britain，the relationship between people is more formal than that in the U．S．A．，friendly and informal relationship is more important to Americans than either rank or status．Americans think that they can still respect a person deeply even if they call him Charlie or Paul．To them，respect and informality are not related.
