numbers vs. strings

Hi.  I sent this to #sisc but I keep missing you guys so I'll post it 
here.  Part of our intro CS curriculum requires running + on strings.  I 
didn't write it so I can't defend it, but it's my job to make it work.  
And it used to:

SISC (r1.4.1) - main
>  (+ 1 "2")
3

SISC (1.8.1-alpha) - main
#;> (+ 1 "2")
Error in +: expected type number, got '"2"'.
#;>


This is with STRICT_R5RS turned off.  Is it possible to make strings 
become numbers automagically like before?  As an option or whatever.




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