Question

Copy all the sub-directories and the files under COLORS directory to SHAPE.

Note: assume that you are inside your home directory and always specify only relative path

Answer 1

Answer:-

The option you're looking for is -R.

cp -R path_to_source path_to_destination/

If destination doesn't exist, it will be created.

-R means copy directories recursively. You can also use -r since it's case-insensitive.

Note the nuances with adding the trailing / as per 764's .

Answer 2

Answer:

cp -ir mydir/colors/basic mydir/colors/blended mydir/shape