▲首先要说明的是，你的句子中的 recognize 并非是 realize 之误。

没错，表示“意识到”“认识到”，英语通常用realize / realise 来表示。如：

I realized wewere still worlds apart. 我意识到我们的观念仍旧有天壤之别。

I realised Iwas looking at it from the wrong angle. 我意识到当时考虑他的角度不对。

She realizedthat the pain of her loss had never truly healed. 她意识到失败的痛苦从未真正消除。

Several years went by before I realizedthat David had lied to me. 过了几年我才意识到戴维对我撒了谎。

▲但是，recognize 有时也可以用来表示 realize 的意思，比如《牛津高阶英汉双解词典》(1989年第四版)的 recognize 词条的第3条释义就是：be prepared to admit or be aware of (sth); realize（承认或认清某事物；认识到）。

▲如下面一句摘自《剑桥高级英语词典》：

It is important to recognize how little we know aboutthis disease. 当我意识到还没有为考试做任何准备时，立刻回到了现实中。

▲请再看下面两个高考题中的句子——句子结构高度相似，但一个用了realize，一个用了recognize：

The shocking news made me realize what terrible problems we would face. 那个令人震惊的新闻让我们意识到，我们将要面对多么可怕的问题。(2011北京卷)

I was surprised by her words, which made me recognizewhat silly mistakes I had made. 我对她的话感到震惊，这使我意识到我犯了多愚蠢的错误。(2005湖南卷)