The text extracted from the image was unclear, so let's directly analyze the grid and shaded area.

From visual inspection, the grid is $10 \times 10$, meaning there are a total of 100 squares in the grid. The shaded area covers 2 columns of squares, each column containing 10 squares. Therefore, the number of shaded squares is:

$2 \times 10 = 20$

Thus, 20 squares are shaded.

Would you like further details or have any questions?

Here are five related questions to explore:

1. What fraction of the total area is shaded?
2. If 3 more columns were shaded, what fraction would be shaded then?
3. How would you represent this fraction in decimal form?
4. If the grid were $5 \times 5$, how many squares would need to be shaded to represent the same fraction?
5. What would the fraction be if only one row were shaded?

Tip: When working with fractions, always relate the part to the whole for clarity and correctness.