Is the Unified State Exam (USE) a good or bad thing?

I don't know... when I took the Unified State Exam (USE) 5 years ago, it was quite difficult. And the knowledge was tested. And they didn't even have time to prepare us for the tests themselves – in our region, we were the "pioneers" – they were always testing things on us! In general, I didn't take exams in all subjects in the USE format, but I did take Russian and math. It wasn't the easiest thing... I only scored 72 out of 100 in math. And a 5 starts at 71. I did better in Russian. Literature was taken in the traditional form – meaning an essay.
In general, at that time, the procedure wasn't quite perfected, and the tests themselves weren't ideal – but I can't say that they didn't test real knowledge! Yes, it was done in a somewhat specific form. For example, take the Russian language... how do I know what rule is being applied here??? I never learned them... I just KNOW that I need to write it this way, and not another... I just feel it... and why – it doesn't matter!