which natural english interpretation of this symbolic statement is correct? Part of Keith Devlin's Coursera MOOC on mathematical thinking requires  the translation of this symbolic statement into natural language:
$$ 5 < x < 7$$
Interpretation 1: $x$ is a single unknown number located somewhere between 5 and 7 on the number line.

Interpretation 2: x is an interval on the number line between 5 and 7. (a line segment).

Which interpretation is correct?
(I will define x to be a REAL NUMBER)

I would interpret
$$
5 < x < 7
$$
as

$x$ is a number strictly between $5$ and $7$

Now, hopefully, the context should make it clear what exactly $x$ is(is it a real number, complex number, integer, ...) .
