1. People are absorbed into "a culture of consumption" launched by the 19th-century department stores that offered "vast arrays of goods in an elegant atmosphere."

【分析】复合句。句子主干为People are absorbed into "a culture of consumption"。launched by…作后置定语,修饰 a culture of consumption,其中包含 that 定语从句，修饰限制department stores。
【译文】人们沉迷于一种由19世纪的百货商店所掀起的“消费文化”中。这些商店“在优雅的购物环境中提供琳琅满目的商品”。
【点拨】array作动词时，意为“部署”或“穿着”。作名词时，意为“展示;陈列”，“大堆；大量”或“数组，阵列”。

2. "Instead of intimate shops catering to a knowledgeable elite," these were stores "anyone could enter, regardless of class or background."

【分析】复合句。句子主干为these were stores。介词结构 instead of …作状语，其中 catering to...作 intimate shops的后置定语;anyone could…又是省略引导词的定语从句修饰stores。
【译文】与那些只满足有品位的精英人士需求的精品店铺不同，这些商店“无论阶层背景，人人皆可踏足其间。
【点拨】intimate常用意为“亲密的，密切的”，本句中意为“精致的，优雅的”。