selecting text with mouse

["mick.crane" <mick.crane@gmail.com>]

xfce4
In things that display text you can drag the mouse over to select blocks 
of text.
Is there some way by a combination of key presses/drag mouse to select 
separated sections of text?
eg.
alpha
beta
charlie
delta
select only "alpha" and "charlie" text with mouse drag and copy.
mick