One of the reasons that computers are better than typewriters is that computers can copy bits and bytes extremely quickly.
Cut, copy, and paste are three commands you can get to from the "Edit" menu (post forthcoming), located next to the File menu. These three commands make use of the computer's "clipboard," a place that can temporarily save text (words, numbers, and symbols), images (pictures and icons), and in some cases other sorts of information. Copying information puts it into the clipboard (for future use). Cutting information puts it into the clipboard and deletes it from its original location. Pasting information takes whatever is on the clipboard and inserts it where your cursor is. (You can move the cursor's location by clicking the mouse pointer where you want to paste the information).
When you copy or cut, any information that was on the clipboard is erased from the clipboard, so it is not possible to copy (or cut) two or more different things at the same time.
The cut command is identical to copying then deleting—it's just faster.
Examples
If I am reading a web page and notice a great quotation that I could use in a report I'm writing, I can copy the quotation from the webpage and paste it into a word processing application (like Microsoft Word or Apple's Pages).
If I am trying to arrange the paragraphs on my report, I can cut a paragraph from its original location (thereby deleting it), and paste it where it belongs.
Tomorrow: Select and Highlight
