That last is a completely different question, and much harder, from your first question!
That, at least is relatively straight forward. Given a set X, a topology for X is a collection of subsets of X, T, such that:
1) X is in the collection.
2) The empty set is in the collection.
3) The union of any sets in the collection is also in the collection.
4) The intersection of any finite number of sets in the collection is also in the collection.
The "standard topology" for Rn is the collection of open sets where a set, A, is open if and only if "for ever x in A, there exist a number \delta> 0 such that the ball, B_\delta(x), defined as \{y | d(x,y)< \delta is a subset of A". Here d(x, y) is the "standard metric" on Rn: if x= (x_1, x_2, ..., x_n), and y= (y_1, y_2, ..., y_n), then d(x,y)= \sqrt{(x_1- y_2)^2+ (x_2- y_2)^2+ \cdot\cdot\cdot+ (x_n- y_n)^2}.
Now, suppose x is in \cup \{U_i\} where \{U_i\} is a collection of open sets A. Then there exist some specific U_i containing x. Since U_i is open, there exist \delta> 0 such that B_\delta(x)\subset U_i. But if every point of B_\delta(x) is in U_ij it is certainly in the union so B_\delta(x)\subset \cup \{U_i\} and so \cup \{U_i\} is an open set.
Intersection is a little trickier and why we need "finite". Suppose x\in \cap U_i. Then x\in U_i for all i. Since every U_i is open, there exist \delta_i> 0 such that B_{\delta_i}(x)\subset U_i for every i. Here's where we need "finite". Since the set of all such \delta_i is finite, there exist a smallest \delta_k. Then B_{\delta_k}(x) is a subset of all such B_i(x) and so is in every U_i and so in their intersection. B_k(x) for that k is in \cap \{U_i\}. Since x could be any point in \cap\{U_i\}, \cap \{U_i\} is open.
Now that we have shown that the union of any sub-collection is also in the collection, to show that the entire space, A, is in the collection, take the union of all sets in the collection. To show that the empty set is in the collection, take the union of of the empty subcollection.