jmc

The area of rectangle $ABCD$ is $(8\text{ cm})(4\text{ cm})=32$ square centimeters. The area of triangle $ABM$ is $\frac{1}{2}(AB)(BM)=\frac{1}{2}(8\text{ cm})(2\text{ cm})=8$ square centimeters. The area of triangle $ADN$ is $\frac{1}{2}(AD)(DN)=\frac{1}{2}(4\text{ cm})(4\text{ cm})=8$ square centimeters. Subtracting these two triangles from the rectangle, we find that the area of quadrilateral $AMCN$ is $32{\text{ cm}}^2-8{\text{ cm}}^2-8{\text{ cm}}^2=\boxed{16}$ square centimeters.