>>> [str(i).zfill(2) for i in range(1,18)]
['01', '02', '03', '04', '05', '06', '07', '08', '09', '10', '11', '12', '13', '14', '15', '16', '17']

With the map function:

list(map(str,range(7)))

zfill does exactly what you want and doesn't require you to understand an arcane mini-language as with the various types of string formatting. There's a place for that, but this is a simple job with a ready-made built-in tool.

ranger = [str(x).zfill(2) for x in range(r)]

This is a comparison of the 3 methods. Change the amount of data and the density via the values below...no matter what values I use, the first solution seems to be the quickest for me. For very large sets of data, the third solution becomes very slow.

EDITED

Edited to include comments below and add in a new solution. The last solution seems to be the quickest now.

import numpy as np
import itertools
import random
import timeit

# --- My Solution --------------------------------------------------------------
def list_to_ranges1(data):
   data = sorted(data)
   diff_data = np.diff(data)
   ranges = []
   i = 0
   skip_next = False
   for k, iterable in itertools.groupby(diff_data, None):
      rng = list(iterable)
      step = rng[0]
      if skip_next:
         skip_next = False
         rng.pop()

      if len(rng) == 0:
         continue
      elif len(rng) == 1:
         ranges.append('%d' % data[i])
      elif step == 1:
         ranges.append('%d-%d' % (data[i], data[i+len(rng)]+step))
         i += 1
         skip_next = True
      else:
         ranges.append('%d-%d:%d' % (data[i], data[i+len(rng)]+step, step))
         i += 1
         skip_next = True
      i += len(rng)

   if len(rng) == 0 or len(rng) == 1:
      ranges.append('%d' % data[i])
   return ','.join(ranges)

# --- Kaidence Solution --------------------------------------------------------
# With a minor edit for use in range function
def list_to_ranges2(data):
   onediff = np.diff(data)
   twodiff = np.diff(onediff)
   increments, breakingindices = [], []
   for i in range(len(twodiff)):
       if twodiff[i] != 0:
           breakingindices.append(i+2)  # Correct index because of the two diffs
           increments.append(onediff[i]) # Record the increment for this section

  # Increments and breakingindices should be the same size
   str_list = []
   start = data[0]
   for i in range(len(breakingindices)):
       str_list.append("%d-%d:%d" % (start,
                                     data[breakingindices[i]-1] + increments[i],
                                     increments[i]))
       start = data[breakingindices[i]]
   str_list.append("%d-%d:%d" % (start,
                                 data[len(data)-1] + onediff[len(onediff)-1],
                                 onediff[len(onediff)-1]))
   return ','.join(str_list)

# --- Rik Poggi Solution -------------------------------------------------------
# With a minor edit for use in range function
def helper(lst):
    if len(lst) == 1:
        return str(lst[0]), []
    if len(lst) == 2:
        return ','.join(map(str,lst)), []

    step = lst[1] - lst[0]
    #for i,x,y in itertools.izip(itertools.count(1), lst[1:], lst[2:]):
    for i,x,y in itertools.izip(itertools.count(1),
                                itertools.islice(lst, 1, None, 1),
                                itertools.islice(lst, 2, None, 1)):
        if y-x != step:
            if i > 1:
                return '{}-{}:{}'.format(lst[0], lst[i]+step, step), lst[i+1:]
            else:
                return str(lst[0]), lst[1:]
    return '{}-{}:{}'.format(lst[0], lst[-1]+step, step), []

def list_to_ranges3(lst):
    result = []
    while lst:
        partial,lst = helper(lst)
        result.append(partial)
    return ','.join(result)

# --- Rik Poggi Solution 2 -----------------------------------------------------
def formatter(start, end, step):
    #return '{}-{}:{}'.format(start, end, step)
    return '{}-{}:{}'.format(start, end + step, step)

def list_to_ranges4(lst):
    n = len(lst)
    result = []
    scan = 0
    while n - scan > 2:
        step = lst[scan + 1] - lst[scan]
        if lst[scan + 2] - lst[scan + 1] != step:
            result.append(str(lst[scan]))
            scan += 1
            continue

        for j in xrange(scan+2, n-1):
            if lst[j+1] - lst[j] != step:
                result.append(formatter(lst[scan], lst[j], step))
                scan = j+1
                break
        else:
            result.append(formatter(lst[scan], lst[-1], step))
            return ','.join(result)

    if n - scan == 1:
        result.append(str(lst[scan]))
    elif n - scan == 2:
        result.append(','.join(itertools.imap(str, lst[scan:])))

    return ','.join(result)

# --- Test Function ------------------------------------------------------------
def test_data(data, f_to_test):
   data_str = f_to_test(data)
   _list = []
   for r in data_str.replace('-',':').split(','):
      r = [int(a) for a in r.split(':')]
      if len(r) == 1:
         _list.extend(r)
      elif len(r) == 2:
         _list.extend(range(r[0], r[1]))
      else:
         _list.extend(range(r[0], r[1], r[2]))
   return _list

# --- Timing Tests -------------------------------------------------------------
# Generate some sample data...
data_list = []
for i in range(5):
   # Note: using the "4000" and "5000" values below, the relative density of
   # the data can be changed.  This has a huge effect on the results
   # (particularly on the results for list_to_ranges3 which uses recursion).
   data_list.append(sorted(list(set([random.randint(1,4000) for a in \
                                      range(random.randint(5,5000))]))))

testfuncs = list_to_ranges1, list_to_ranges2, list_to_ranges3, list_to_ranges4
for f in testfuncs:
   print '\n', f.__name__
   for i, data in enumerate(data_list):
      t = timeit.Timer('f(data)', 'from __main__ import data, f')
      #print f(data)
      print i, data==test_data(data, f), round(t.timeit(200), 3)

Here's a solution that solves your problem but is code-golfed enough to look weird as a homework answer at this level:

print(' '.join(map(lambda x: "%d one thousand." % x, range(1, n))))

Explanation!

• A "lambda function" is simply a very small way of writing a function without naming it. In this case, lambda x: "%d one thousand." % x will take in a number x and output the string "1 one thousand" if x=1, for example.
• The % operator used in that lambda is a shortcut for string.format. That's a bit too much to explain right now, but here it basically means "insert the value of x where the %d is".
• The map function is a fancy way of writing an entire for loop in a single line. It takes a function and a list, and applies the function to each item in the list.
• ' '.join is a peculiarity of Python. What it does is take a list and turn it into a string by putting a space between each of the items. You would think that it'd be a function you call on the list, but in Python it's a function on the string instead.

Here's a much more clearly written version:

numbers = range(1, n)
make_count_string = lambda x: "%d one thousand." % x
count_strings = map(make_count_string, numbers)
combined_string = ' '.join(count_strings)
print(combined_string)