Why does Lion reopen closed files when the Word app is started?

Hi,

I am running Office 2011 on Lion 10.7.5 on several machines.

On one machine, a 13" MBP, if Word is opened following a Restart, as many as 50 or so Word files open automatically. I took care to close all windows prior to quitting Word before restarting.

Some of these files go back a significant time. They were not even opened the last time Word was used.

I have scoured the Community and the most common response seems to be to turn off "Restore windows when quitting and re-opening apps."

This option is not currently checked. Further, my assumption is that this option is intended to reopen files(documents) that were left open when an app closed(quit). I see no other location where an option exists to auomatically reopne documents.

There must be some sort of cache or perference file that controls(remembers) which files should be reopened if an app is closed and restarted. The only explanation I can come up with i that file is "remembering" too many or incorrect files to reopen.

Ant clarification would be appreciated.

JD