$ cp --help
...
Copy SOURCE to DEST, or multiple SOURCE(s) to DIRECTORY.
...
Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too.
-a, --archive same as -dpR
...
-l, --link link files instead of copying

Sounds like you need to upgrade to a real OS ;-)

if you want the feature-laden gnu-style version of basic utilities, instead of the simpler unix-style one that MacOSX (and most all BSDs, OpenSolaris, etc) come with, it's typically simple to download and install the gnu-style one; on MacOSX, the simplest way is probably via http://coreutils.darwinports.com/ .