Final answer:
The patient showing an inability to read, but with the ability to recognize spoken words, likely suffers from receptive aphasia, which affects the understanding of language, distinguished from dyslexia which involves issues with sound-letter correspondence.
Step-by-step explanation:
A patient who is unable to read the sentence "the dog ran" but can recognize those words if they are spelled aloud is most likely experiencing receptive aphasia, a condition that involves the loss of the ability to understand written language. This condition suggests that the patient's brain's language comprehension center, typically located in the Wernicke's area, might be affected. However, the auditory processing and memory recall abilities seem to be intact, as the patient can recognize the spoken words.
It is vital to distinguish this from dyslexia, which is characterized by difficulty in sound-letter correspondence and often involves letter reversals or skipping words while reading, which does not seem to be the symptom described here. Instead, receptive aphasia is closer to the symptoms mentioned, where comprehension of language is impaired whether it's spoken or written.