linux cut

cut(1) - remove sections from each line of files
-d, --delimiter=DELIM
       use DELIM instead of TAB for field delimiter
-f, --fields=LIST
       select only these fields;  also print any line 
       that contains no delimiter character, unless the -s
       option is specifiedUse f fields flag and d delimiter flag to achieve cut result of your code:
echo "1 2 3 4 5 6 7" | cut -d ' ' -f '2-4,6-'
2 3 4 6 7	# field specifies to cut 2th to 4th and 6th until last fieldscut // remove sections from each line of files
echo foo bar baz | cut -f 2 -d ' '
bar