help with <table> element

[Staalkoppie]

Hi guys,

Started studying HTML , but having a bit of a problem creating <table>s.

My instruction is to :"format the row in the table so that they alternate from white to grey. Within the grey rows format the text to white, Withing the white rows, format the text to black.
I created a table for this in a previous exercise which I'll paste in the bottom. If I understand correctly, I need to use the table's <tr> element, but I don't know how it should be formatted. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Here is what I got so far;

<form action="" name="newsHeadlines">
<table border="0" width="100%">
<tr valign="top">
<td>
<select name="headline" multiple="multiple" style="height: 93px">
<option onclick="document.newsHeadlines.news.value=newsItem1">
Investigation of building standards in quake zone
</option>

<option onclick="document.newsHeadlines.news.value=newsItem2">
Obama sees signs of economic progress
</option>

<option onclick="document.newsHeadlines.news.value=newsItem3">
Apple aplication downloads approach 1 Billion
</option>

<option onclick="document.newsHeadlines.news.value=newsItem4">
Jones, Braves beat winless Nationals 8-5
</option>

<option onclick="document.newsHeadlines.news.value=newsItem5">
America's uninsured haven't shown collective power
</option>
</select>
</td>
<td>
<textarea name="news" cols="50" rows="10" style="background-color : Transparent"></textarea>
</td>
</tr>
</table>

<script type="text/javascript">
/* <![CDATA[ */
/8 ]]> */

var newsItem1 = "Example1";
var newsItem2 = "Exam[le2";
var newsItem3 = "Example3";
var newsItem4 = "Example4";
var newsItem5 = "Example5";



</script>

</form>

[Staalkoppie]

hehehe and there I thought HTML was easy