Exercise 2: Reading COND=(4,LT,STEP1) Correctly, and Why the Reverse Reading Is Backward — Possible Solution
====================================================================

WHAT COND CONDITIONS GENUINELY STATE, PER THIS CHAPTER'S OWN WARN-BOX
This chapter's own warn-box is explicit about the real, easy-to-miss
rule: a COND condition states when a step is genuinely SKIPPED, not
when it runs. The condition written inside the parentheses describes
the real circumstance under which STEP2 is left out entirely.

WHAT COND=(4,LT,STEP1) GENUINELY EVALUATES
Reading the real condition itself: "4 LT STEP1" means "4 is less than
STEP1's real return code." Per this chapter's own stated rule, STEP2
is skipped precisely when this stated condition is true - so STEP2 is
skipped whenever STEP1's own real return code is genuinely greater
than 4.

WHEN STEP2 GENUINELY RUNS, GIVEN THAT RULE
If STEP2 is skipped exactly when STEP1's return code is greater than
4, then STEP2 genuinely runs in the opposite real case: whenever
STEP1's return code is 4 or lower (that is, not greater than 4). A
STEP1 return code of 0, or 4 itself, allows STEP2 to run; a STEP1
return code of 5 or higher causes STEP2 to be skipped.

WHY READING IT AS "RUN IF 4 IS LESS THAN STEP1'S RETURN CODE" IS GENUINELY BACKWARD
That alternate reading takes the exact condition written inside the
parentheses and treats it as the "go" signal rather than the "skip"
signal this chapter's own warn-box explicitly identifies it as. Doing
that would mean concluding STEP2 runs only when STEP1's return code
is ABOVE 4 - which is the precise real opposite of what COND actually
causes to happen. This chapter's own warn-box names this exact
mistake directly: treating a COND clause as "run if" instead of "skip
if" gets the real logic backwards every single time.

ANSWER: COND=(4,LT,STEP1) states the condition under which STEP2 is
skipped - "4 is less than STEP1's real return code" - so STEP2 is
genuinely skipped whenever STEP1's own return code comes back greater
than 4, and STEP2 genuinely runs whenever STEP1's return code is 4 or
lower. Reading it as "run STEP2 if 4 is less than STEP1's return
code" would flip this real logic entirely, concluding STEP2 only runs
on a return code above 4 - exactly the reverse of the actual real
behavior, and precisely the backward misreading this chapter's own
warn-box warns against.

WHY THIS WORKS AS AN ANSWER
------------------------------
This correctly evaluates the actual real condition, derives both the
skip case and the run case from it accurately, and explicitly
identifies why the proposed alternate reading produces the exact
opposite - and therefore genuinely backward - real conclusion.