In the provided PHP code snippet, how can the use of $_GET instead of $1 in the RewriteRule enhance the functionality and readability of the script?

Using $_GET instead of $1 in the RewriteRule can enhance the functionality and readability of the script by making it clearer that the value is being retrieved from the query string parameters. This can make the code easier to understand for other developers and reduce confusion when working with multiple variables in the URL.

RewriteRule ^page/([^/]+)$ index.php?page=$1 [L]
```

Using $_GET in the PHP code:

```php
$page = $_GET['page'];